Luck, Love and Life
by Jizzle Pop
Summary: While in America, the McFly boys watch their hapless friend, Jake Hardin, live from unlucky to very fortunate. Jake Hardin, after all the things he's gone through, believed even if he and Ashley's luck didn't switch in the kiss, he would still be lucky.
1. Meet McFLY

_A/N: Hiya! This is my first "Just My Luck" fic. I really love McFLY, and I can't believe they appeared in the movie! After re-watching it over and over, I decided to write a fic. Tons of McFLY friendship and funny moments with Jake/Ashley stuff too. It's mostly a take on Jake's life when he meets McFly and it progresses until he and Ashley gets together. :) I hope you guys like this! It's very fun to write. I'm so glad McFLY got in this movie._

Disclaimer: I don't own McFLY or Just My Luck. :) I don't own Green Day, Paramore, Aerosmith, All-American Rejects, Coldplay and Nickelback either. xD

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**Luck, Love and Life**

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Chapter 1: Meet McFLY

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"Jake, what did you do?!"

A man with tousled, dark brown hair and black eyeglasses cringed. He scrunched down and gripped his hair in grief and strain. Groaning angrily, he sat on a chair behind him and heard a splat. His eyes widened, and he found himself sitting on squashed ice-cream.

Jake Hardin wasn't a person who would be called lucky. When he was a child, he was a victim of flagpole wedgies and was the official dodgeball dummy. He held the record for being the student with the most visits to the school nurse.

The poor lad knew how unfortunate he was, but was kept sane because of the love his family gave to him. They would have the occasional laugh out of Jake's misfortune, but then, who wouldn't? Jake still thought it was better than nothing.

His parents sent him off to New York City for college. Jake missed them terribly, but learned to live and survive in the place, and eventually he enjoyed residing there. He still had his bad luck with physical accidents getting him here and there, but he lived with the bad luck his whole life. While in college, he lived in a small apartment and found a part-time job by babysitting a little girl named Katy, who, like him, had the short end of the stick when it comes to luck.

After college, Jake decided to work in the Rock 'n' Bowl, a cool hangout with food and bowling. He spent some of his college free time there, and the manager said Jake grew on him. When Jake talked to the manager about being rejected in job interviews, he offered Jake a job as a sanitation engineer. For short, he became the Rock 'n' Bowl janitor.

At the present time, Jake winced in horror as the manager shouted his name over and over as he walked towards him. He dragged Jake by the ear and shouted angrily.

"What's wrong with you?! We finally had Green Day to perform for us!"

Jake rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I… kinda… accidentally… spilled their shakes… on their guitars… and their coat and pants…" he stuttered.

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down!" said Jake. "I know it's big… they said it's alright, they'll come back here to visit or chill out, but then… they said they won't perform here, because they don't want to get their guitars stained again."

The manager groaned angrily. "Next time, don't serve the musicians OR don't go near their instruments! The same thing happens! Paramore, Coldplay, The All-American Rejects, Aerosmith, Nickelback and now Green Day! We never get famous bands to perform for us!"

Jake nervously sat on a nearby chair with the manager still scowling at him. "Now where are we going to find a great band who would put up some more business and publicity in this place?!"

The brown-haired man exhaled sadly and pushed the rim of his glasses up his nose. "Well… maybe we could find a band…?"

As if the scene was planned out, someone behind them coughed and coughed to get their attention. When Jake looked, he saw a guy with blonde hair which had brown streaks on several strands, wearing a beanie and jeans, perfectly matched with a denim jacket, a black polo shirt underneath. His dark blue eyes scanned him with a doubtful expression on his face.

"Excuse me, are you guys asking for a band to perform here?" he asked, a strong British accent coming out of his mouth.

"Why, yes… yes we are!" Jake exclaimed. Another gent raised his hand, sitting beside the British fellow in denim. He was a blonde with long hair, the back spiking upwards. He had chocolate brown eyes and a dimple that matched his child-like smile. Wearing a blue and white British jumper and jeans, he looked easier to talk to.

"Really? Because if you like, we could perform for you guys," said the lad, also a pure British boy.

The manager, Jerry, scoffed and snorted. "Really? And what band are you guys from? Never-heard-of band?"

They heard a loud growl from the little one beside the boy in denim, a fellow with blonde-and-brown hair with blue-green eyes, wearing a green sweatshirt and pants.

"For your information, we had two number 1 albums in UK," he sneered. "Why are we here again, Tom? The guy said we're never heard of!"

The blonde calmed down the angry boy. "Because Fletch sent us here to promote our album. Be nice," he said, and he smacked the boy's shoulder.

"Sorry. He's been very testy of Americans since the cab driver's snobby insults got him all shirty," the blonde, Tom as he was called, apologized.

"Two number ones in the UK?" Jake asked, curious.

"No wonder I never heard of you guys. I'm not that much of an observer in music from other countries," said Jerry, the Rock 'n' Bowl's manager.

"We're McFLY, by the way," said another. They looked at the lad beside the blonde one. He was wearing a long sweater with red and white stripes and dark blue jeans. His dark brown hair was very long and straight, almost covering his eyes. He smiled warmly with his blue eyes twinkling and his teeth showing.

"McFLY… McFLY… I heard that before," Jake said softly, tapping his chin. "Oh, I remember! I saw you guys once when I searched the internet for some international bands. Can you guys rehearse here? Practice here and perform here too?"

The straight-haired brunette grinned toothily and nudged the blonde in the shoulder. "C'mon, Tom! This is going to be great!" he said. The blonde gave in easily.

"Sure, we can. Is tomorrow fine? It's already 7 o'clock in the evening and we do have to return to our hotel room and we don't have our instruments at the moment," said the blonde.

"Thank you!" Jake said, shaking the boys' hands. "What are your names, by the way?"

"I'm Tom, Tom Fletcher," the blonde one said, his dimple revealing again as he smiled.

"Dougie Poynter," said the previously grumpy Brit. He was now leaning against his chair and looking at Jerry suspiciously. "Oh, come off it!" said the Brit in denim.

"Oh, and I'm Harry Judd," he added.

"And I'm Danny! Danny Jones!" the brunette introduced happily, shaking Jake's hand frantically. "Nice to meet you!"

Tom laughed at Jake's expression when Danny let go of his hand. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Jake Hardin," he answered.

"Jake," started Tom. "If we perform here, are we going to be noticed? Because we're here to promote our new album, and maybe record some songs as well. We're mainly targeting Damon Phillips, since we heard he's a big-shot record dealer here. If you can help us, we're going to perform here all the time whenever we visit America, unless you don't work in this place anymore at the time."

The tousle-haired janitor didn't have second thoughts. He nodded and reassured them he would do his job.

"Of course! I'm going to help you guys get him! He goes around this part of New York all the time, I think I could help you."

"Great!" exclaimed Danny. "We're going to give you a demo CD tomorrow. Hope you help us quick! We owe you already."

Jake smiled weakly. He earned the trust of one of the greatest bands in the world, and he had to hunt down one of the biggest executives in wealth. With his rotten luck, his attempts might go haywire and he might get ruined. But then, meeting McFly and having them offer to perform and asking him for help looked like good luck knocking on his door. Jake smiled at the thought. His luck was changing, and he can feel it.

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_Hope I can update this soon. :) Please R&R, no flames please! :D I'm going to make this story as interesting as it gets._


	2. Reality Bites, said Danny

_A/N: Oh my gosh, I really enjoy writing this story! Writing McFLY is so much fun, honestly! :D And writing Jake's bad luck is really funny. xD I got inspiration from my very first reviewer, thank you very much _**McSteph**_! I just love your review, very inspiring, and I wrote this chapter as soon as I could because at least, I have one person who likes this story. :D Hope you read this story more, because I really love writing it. :) Anyway, the canon parts of the movie are coming soon, but I hope you guys like this chapter to know how I imagined how McFLY and Jake became in good terms. :) Read away!_

Disclaimer: I don't own McFLY or Just My Luck. I just own this really neat story idea that I keep writing. xD And I don't own Google or Wikipedia either, or the "Five Colors in Her Hair" song.

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**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 2: Reality Bites, said Danny

The evening Jake met McFLY was the night he redecorated his door and used his internet connection wisely. He stuck several McFLY posters and logos on his door with thanks to some of his sources. Katy, who was now an adorable 10-year old, helped him glue them on. After one magazine cutting became glued on the floor, they tried to scrape it out, and ended up gluing their shoes on the floor in the process. After hard work, Jake thanked his little blonde friend and gave her an egg sandwich as a reward.

Jake realized he needed new shoes as he switched on his dusty laptop. The soles were ripped off already as Jake took them off and placed them beside his slippers. He was very thankful his parents sent him a pair of shoes a week ago, although he accidentally spoiled them with stains of ketchup and mustard.

"It's better than nothing," became Jake's motto as he progressed further in his life. He reminded himself of that as he tried to grasp a good internet connection. He shared his connection with another neighbor of his, and during 9 at the evening, Jake's share of the internet would be less than what he wanted.

"It's still better than nothing, Jake," he told himself as he opened the Internet Explorer and typed "McFLY" in the Google search box. He opened up their Wikipedia article and started reading, and he was surprised to see how extraordinary their accomplishments are in the music industry. It made butterflies flutter in his stomach. If he lets McFLY down, he would be in very big trouble.

After failed attempts of searching for their music videos, he found one for their debut single. "Five Colors in Her Hair" and eventually enjoyed the beat of their music. McFLY looked like a very mischievous bunch of boys with sweet personalities and goofy attitudes as he read some magazine articles or fan websites of theirs. He looked for some sites to listen to their songs, and believed they were the most original band he's ever discovered.

"I won't let them down," thought Jake, as he closed his laptop and went to bed.

The next day, Jake woke up as early as he could to make sure he wouldn't embarrass the boys or scare them either. It was fair for him to wake up on 8'o clock in the morning, especially on a stirring and fretful day. He wore his best beanie and pants and fixed himself up before grabbing his safety backpack. As he pushed the rim of his glasses up his nose, he breathed in the fresh breeze blowing in through his window before going down to the Rock 'n' Bowl.

The tousle-haired man grunted in irritation when he inadvertently dropped his safety backpack on a wet puddle when a neighbor of his pushed him off the sidewalk.

"Next time, please say excuse me!" he shouted at the east direction.

He hesitantly swung his damp backpack over his shoulder again and ran inside the Rock 'n' Bowl before a car could bump him or a cloud pour rain on him.

Jake eased himself as he entered the bowling alley with the familiar aroma of work and bowling balls. He found his fellow employees waving at him before asking – or more likely, begging – Jerry for a raise.

"They always do that whenever it's this time of the morning," Jake thought. He chuckled softly and went inside the employee changing room to change his attire to his baby blue uniform. It was to his delight that the McFLY boys arrived early to rehearse, carrying three guitar cases and their own bags. The drummer, who wore a nifty polo shirt and the unbuttoned denim jacket he wore the day before, was tapping his drumsticks on every solid surface he passes.

"Stop that, Harry! It's rude," Tom snapped, grabbing the drumsticks away.

"Hey! You concentrate on carrying your guitar!" Harry retorted angrily. He punched Tom in the shoulder and grabbed his drumsticks before Tom dropped them on the floor.

"Can you please stop fighting? It's morning and I want to start it off nicely," said Danny, who looked very worried. "Dougie's not shirty this time, so don't go ruining the day with a fight."

"Who said I'm not shirty? I'm going to see the man who has the same name of my lizard who called us never-heard-of," Dougie snarled at Danny.

"Stop it," snapped Tom again. "Don't make Danny's bright mood go, because he's the only one who's happy right now. And don't compare the manager of this place with your lizard! You and Harry are making this day go down the drain."

Jake found his feet carrying him closer to them. He coughed softly to catch their attention.

"Jake!" Danny exclaimed. He shook his hand again, and it relieved him that Danny didn't shake it hysterically again. "I'm glad I bumped into someone who wouldn't make me a grump right now."

He found himself smiling at the long-haired gent. He led them to the stage, where they situated their guitar cases. Harry felt ecstatic as he sat in the drummer stool and gave the cymbal a soft, tingling tap.

"I do miss my drum set though," he said, staring at the bass drum's design.

"We can't possibly fit all that in a cab," Tom said as he donned a guitar strap holding a Stratocaster. "If we have proper transportation means like a van, we could fit your drums and drive them around here."

"Besides, you're not the only one who misses our band's logo on a drum set," Danny said, grinning toothily as he took out a black Les Paul and a blue guitar plectrum. Tom handed a guitar strap to Dougie and him.

Dougie took out a bluish-green bass guitar and placed the strap before moving all the guitar cases at the side of the stage.

"D'you guys have any amplifiers?" Danny asked.

Tom slapped his forehead while Dougie snorted. "Don't be thick! Of course they do!" exclaimed Harry.

Jake nervously nodded at the Bolton guitarist and stepped on the stage.

"I assure you boys you're going to have fun here, and I'm going to make sure that your songs will reach Damon Phillips," he said.

"Thanks! Oh, that reminds me, Danny, where's the demo CD?" Tom asked. Danny's blue eyes widened.

"Uh… I…"

"Why is the CD in my bag? And where is my donut?! Danny, I told you not to eat my donut!" Dougie screeched angrily. Jake felt grateful that it was still morning and less people saw the little band quarrel. He saw Jerry look at the young bassist doubtfully.

"Just forget the doughnut and give Jake the CD, Dougie," Tom commanded. Dougie, who looked very furious, tossed the CD to Danny. Danny nervously gave Jake the CD. He was beaming widely at them.

"I promise I will give him this. You guys can count on me!" Jake said cheerfully.

"That's great!" Tom said, smacking Dougie in the shoulder. "Stop being crabby. You've been like this since our first day here! Look, Jake's helping us!"

"Well, he might be a decent one," Dougie said.

"That's the spirit, Doug," Harry said merrily. He looked like he was about to throw his drumsticks right at him, but instead, he thumped the bass drum to get his attention.

Dougie and Harry started laughing melodically as Tom tried to get them over their annoying guffawing session.

"Can I ask you something, Jake?" Danny started.

"Sure, what is it?" Jake asked. He crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping Danny wasn't a diva who wanted a complicated mix of delicious coffee.

"Where are the amplifiers?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'll get them! Actually, we just need wires," Jake said, ridiculing his own forgetfulness. He walked backwards off the stage as he kept telling Danny to be patient, until he fell over and somersaulted over a table, and fell, flat-faced, on the ground. His eyeglasses flung upwards and were almost crushed by a passer-by.

"Jake! Jake, are you alright?!"

The four boys jumped off the stage and ran towards their friend and helped him on his feet again.

"That looked like a very nasty fall," Dougie said.

"Very nasty indeed," Danny added. "And your glasses!"

The Bolton boy picked up his eyeglasses and gave them to Jake, who was still adjusting his shuffling feet to balance on the ground. Tom helped Jake wear them as they assisted him to a seat.

"It's alright, I've suffered much worse than that, boys," he said, rattling his head for better thinking.

"Really?" they asked in unison.

"Let's just say, I have a record in school for visiting the school nurse the most," he answered.

"Are you just injuring yourself because the school nurse is hot?" asked Harry. The rest stared at him, eyebrows raised and skeptical looks on their faces. "What? It could be possible."

"Well, she looks pretty, but I really get into accidents because I'm unlucky," he answered, chortling at Harry's flushed expression.

"You can't be serious. No one's unlucky," Tom said. "And don't try to add stupid thoughts, Danny."

Danny's head lowered as Tom thumped his hand on his back softly. "We know you love telling stories, but unluckiness is one thing you shouldn't joke about."

"I'm not joking," Jake said. "I'm the magnet of unluckiness, the mayor of "Unlucky Land", and I get hurt every day."

Danny raised his head. "Ouch. Reality bites."

"It sure does."

"So, where are the wires?"

The boys decided to accompany Jake in the stockroom to avoid any more unfortunate accidents that could happen to him. Dougie remained as Jake's support as the rest of the boys carried the wires. They allowed Jake to do the honors in plugging them, but made sure he wouldn't get electrocuted. There was a tiny spark when Jake plugged Danny's guitar in, and Danny's guitar screeched. The boys covered their ears as the harsh sound echoed in their ears. After all Jake's hard work helping the boys, he started cleaning the bowling alley floors as the boys checked the mikes and started singing.

"Sound check… sound check… alright!" exclaimed Danny. He and Tom strummed a more rock and roll version of "Five Colors in Her Hair" as Dougie picked up the bass pace and Harry kept the beat steady but raised the tempo a bit.

**_She's got a lip-ring and five colors in her hair  
Not into fashion but I love the clothes she wears  
And her tattoo's always hidden by her underwear  
She don't ca-are!_**

The blending of the bass and drums with the guitars in distortion was music to Jake's ears, and to the rest of the people in the Rock 'n' Bowl. The four boys were smiling as some of the female workers danced along with the song. More customers came in and Jerry gave two thumbs up to Jake and McFLY.

"This proves he knows nothing," Dougie said jokingly. "We are better than he thinks."

"Doug, just play along, he'll get the message," Harry said as he banged the tom-tom several times.

Danny started laughing when the song ended.

"I'm getting luckier," Jake thought as he placed the bowling ball he polished up the shelf. He heard a crash and saw the bowling ball shelf tilted to the floor, the balls rolling around.

"Well, I'm getting luckier… slowly."

"Ooh, that is one loud crash," Tom said as he strummed the last chord.

"You know what reminds me of crashing? Our "That Girl" music video!" Harry exclaimed.

"That Girl?" Dougie asked.

_**"1… 2… 3… 4!"**_ Danny shouted.

The boys played a surfer-pop tune which Jake hummed along with as he screwed in the shelf properly and fixed the bowling ball mess he indirectly caused. Things were getting better for him. He just hoped his luck would continue, because a little fortune goes a long way.

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_I just love writing McFLY. They're so fun. x3 Please R&R, no flames hopefully. :D_


	3. Polishing Jobs and Wet Bags

_A/N: Thank goodness! I had to think of some ideas for what the boys could do while they had Jake look for Damon in this chapter, and I thought, "What if they did Jake's jobs or something?" and tada! Made this chapter. I just love the boys being all kiddy and fun-loving. :) Thanks again to _**McSteph **_for reviewing! Thanks for the shoutout too :D I'm going to read your fics as well, since you're reading mine. :) I think the next chapter will have the canon-JML movie parts already, but I'm going to add fun bits of McFly and all! Well, read away and enjoy!_

Disclaimer: I don't own the amazing band McFly or Just My Luck. I just own this story idea. :)

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**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 3: Polishing Jobs and Wet Bags

Jake was very thankful the boys continued to trust him, especially with the duty given to him. The boys teased him on his remark that delivering the demo CD would be done, but would be very hard. They had to remember Jake tumbling over the table after falling off the stage to understand it, and apologized.

"Sorry, we forgot," Tom said, scratching the back of his neck. "We never met someone who implies he has bad luck and is really unlucky… physically, anyway. Wait! No, I don't mean you look ugly! You don't! But I'm saying you're unlucky when it comes to bruises and… oh, forget it!"

Tom had the hardest time finding the right words. The other three would laugh at him, telling him jokingly that he should stop trying to offend Jake. Jake, being a nice guy as he is, tells Tom he understands what he's trying to say, even if his words over exaggerate his misfortune.

"I promise, boys, I'll get to Phillips and give the CD, don't worry!" he reassured. For the past three weeks, the boys performed in the Rock 'n' Bowl on weeknights and rehearsed every morning, only taking breaks on the weekends where they either travel around the city or stay in the Rock 'n' Bowl and assist Jake in his bowling ball polishing.

"I want to play bowling now!" Danny exclaimed one Sunday. Dougie pushed him off his chair when Danny continued whining while clutching a pearlized red bowling ball. Tom had to take control of their actions while Harry couldn't care less and bowled by himself.

Jake, on the other hand, roamed around the city before and after his work shifts just to look for Damon Phillips. The wealthy client didn't really know how hard it was for Jake to pursue him, and he still didn't.

One fateful Tuesday, Jake received a call from the McFly boys and thanked them very much. They were able to invite some music clients under Damon Phillip's company, but it was still unsure if they would come. To make sure he didn't let the boys down, he continued to search for Damon. The McFly boys helped Jake by telling Jerry to give him a day off.

"You guys don't need to do that," Jake said.

"NONSENSE! IT'S OUR PLEASURE!" Tom shouted through the cell phone. Jake pushed the rim of his glasses up his nose again after getting startled. He figured the Rock 'n' Bowl was very noisy at the moment, and Tom wasn't used to it.

"WE'RE ALSO GOING TO POLISH THE BOWLING BALLS FOR YOU!" he heard Danny shout from the other end of the cell phone.

"NO! YOU DO GARBAGE DUTY!" shouted Dougie. The two boys' voices faded as Harry joined in the loud conversation.

"SHUT UP! I GET TO POLISH THEM WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!" he shouted. Jake heard Tom groan angrily, and figured the blonde Brit rubbed his temples before getting back to him.

"VERY SORRY! WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT OUR JOB DISTRIBUTION! NO NEED TO THANK US!" Tom shouted.

"It's alright. Just make sure you don't swallow the gum when you scrape it off the tables," he replied.

"WHAT?!"

"Tom, tell Jerry to lower the volume of the speakers and good luck on your jobs! I'll pay you boys!" he said, shouting as loudly as he can to the phone. It was very unusual for him.

"OH! I'LL GET YOU SOME TOYS?"

"NO! Just, see you guys later!" Jake shouted. Tom ended the call and Jake relieved his ears for a short moment before grabbing his safety backpack. He wore his beanie and several layered jackets before leaving. He found Katy standing alone outside their place, clutching her schoolbag, her pants damp and her lunchbox broken. Jake took out a brown paper bag and gave it to her.

"Isn't this your emergency barf bag?" Katy asked, her brown eyes scanning him dubiously.

Jake merely laughed. "Well, it is, but I never used it. Put all your food in it, so your books won't smell like…"

"Bologna sandwich and fried rice," she continued. "Thanks Jake."

He left Katy waiting for her school bus as he went around the corner of the street. He found a large, dark-skinned man wearing a brown fur coat walking around with a leash holding a tiny dog.

"There he is, Damon Phillips."

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

Meanwhile, the McFly boys didn't get used to wearing matching uniforms and working in the bowling alley formally. They would assist Jake on occasion, especially just to beat boredom. Polishing bowling balls was their favorite "part-time" duty, and while Jake goes around the city to find Damon Phillips, Tom found a headache from Danny and Dougie's quarrel over the job.

"I want to polish the bowling balls!" Danny shouted, gripping the dry cloth he would be using.

"You're bloody horrible when it comes to returning it on the shelf or the ball-return!" he snarled through gritted teeth. Harry was snickering as he scraped gum off the bottom of the tables. He avoided each as they fall, and one almost landed in his mouth.

"Shut it, guys! Why won't you settle this through rock-paper-scissors or something?" Tom asked, already pleading them to solve their problems. His head was pounding crazily and he needed to do his part of the job deal.

"Just let them solve it for themselves, Tom," Harry shouted from afar. "C'mon, and you're the smart one. I'm already done with five tables and you haven't polished ANY bowling lane! You're just lucky I'm not fighting over the job unlike earlier!"

"HA! I won!" Dougie shouted. Danny groaned in anger and felt his chair topple off balance. He found his arm crushed by body weight and stood up.

"Fine, I'll just polish the bowling lanes," he said.

"HEY! That's MY job!" Tom barked. He needed not more job stealing in one day.

Danny stomped his feet like a child and sat on the chair. "I don't want to do garbage duty!" Before Tom could respond, Harry snorted loudly as he moved to his 6th table for chewing gum removal.

"Either that or you clean the loo!" he jeered.

"Shut up, Harry! You know, you can fix the bowling pins and clean them too," Tom said. "Much easier than polishing the bowling balls."

"I still want to clean something," Danny said, "Make something shine, you know."

"Then clean the loo!" joked Harry. Danny simply rolled his eyes and looked for some gloves before starting his job. Tom, on the other hand, whacked Harry multiple times with Dougie's dry cloth.

"Give that back!" Dougie spat angrily. "This is for my job so use your own equipment!"

Harry made sure he was far from Tom as the blonde turned on the floor buffer and polished the first lane. Danny was able to finish fixing the bowling pins of the first lane before Tom started polishing it. Dougie happily squirted and cleaned pearlized and non-pearlized bowling balls of different colors, once trying to make Danny jealous but ended unsuccessfully as the Bolton boy happily rubbed dark stains off the pins.

Later on, the boys teamed up for the hardest job that they had to do for Jake – clean the lavatories. Harry was positively excited to hear Danny was going to clean, until Tom popped his positive bubble and said they would all be cleaning it.

"No wonder Danny said yes," he muttered under his breath, pushing a yellow mop bucket with a mangle across the floor from the equipment room.

"Don't complain, I don't want to do this too," Dougie told him, clutching a heavy bucket and four toilet brushes.

"Who would?!" Danny asked. They all glared at Tom, who had the idea of helping the other workers by doing this chore.

"I know you guys are glaring at me, so stop. We're going to get paid too, after all!" Tom said. He knew they understood and nodded in agreement as they started to talk about the bright side of the job.

Unfortunately for them, Tom gave up, tossing the toilet brush across the cubicles and landed onto Danny.

"Yuck!" he exclaimed, his Bolton accent as thick as it could be. "TOM! Why did you throw it?! You're lucky it landed on the uniform! If it didn't, you're going to eat the brush you threw!"

Harry and Dougie snickered as they rubbed the sinks and mirrors with soapy water.

"Can't we exchange cleaning duties, Harry? Dougie? Please?" Tom begged from inside a cubicle. He sounded like he was pinching his nose to avoid the smell of toilet overwhelming him.

"Nope, we're pretty satisfied, thank you," Dougie replied, grinning from ear to ear.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

On the other side of the city, Jake was running, holding up his pants and bag as more cars obscured his path. He couldn't go across the pedestrian lanes either, as each person he bumps pushes him back to the sidewalk, to his dismay. And whenever the pedestrian lanes clear up, the traffic light remained green until a pack of people arrive. He took a chance and ran, pushing the people away from him. A gigantic man who liked like a body builder collapsed on the ground as Jake shoved him. He covered his black eyeglasses in hopes the man wouldn't remember him in the future.

"Watch where you're going, you – "

The man swore so loudly, a taxi screeched and almost collided with Jake's thighs.

"You deserve it!" and the man cursed at him again. The taxi honked at the body builder and Jake pretended he knew nothing of what happened as they engaged in a heated argument. He passed the sidewalk shops and avoided taking a single glance at the fancy merchandise or pawn shops. He lost track of Damon Phillips and had to catch up with him once again.

As he took a turn and entered a new block, he jumped and fell over backwards as he bumped two girls holding two Starbucks coffees and hit his head on the ground. He heard the girls gasp and the next thing he knew was his bag and his jacket was stained by very hot coffee.

"HOT!" he screeched. The girls helped him up; one of them was a blonde who had short hair and a pink streak on it and beside her a long-haired brunette holding a briefcase and a small shopping bag containing clothes.

"Oh my gosh, we're so sorry!" the blonde gasped. Jake helped them by carrying his weight and stood up immediately. The brunette rolled her eyes and returned his backpack.

"Wow, this is pretty heavy!" she said. She bent down, hoping the weight wouldn't crack her high heels. Jake took it immediately and nodded at them.

"Thanks for the help, and I'm terribly sorry if I wasted your time and coffee," he apologized. The blonde beamed at him and the brunette simply nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies, I really have to go." He spotted the chubby man with the familiar fur coat and little dog and trotted towards them.

"Wait! What's your name?!" he heard the blonde ask. He resisted the temptation to answer and sprinted across the pedestrian lane which was luckily free for him to pass. He found himself in front of a giant skyscraper and almost fainted with the height.

"Mr. Phillips! What a pleasure!" he heard two men exclaim, taking Damon's coat and dog leash.

"Mr. Phillips! Mr. Phillips!" Jake shouted, scurrying quickly. He was too excited and anxious in catching up to him that he didn't notice a banana peel lying in front of him just beside a trash bin. Jake, of all the people, knew the feeling of slipping on it, and fell on his rear on the cold cement. That didn't stop him though, as he did his best to soothe the painful feeling through affirmation with the mind and entered the building through the revolving doors, only to be kicked out – literally – by the security guards.

"But I have an appointment with Damon Phillips!" he cried.

"Liar," said one of them.

"He doesn't have ANY appointments today AT ALL," the other one hollered, and he kicked Jake on the rear and went back in the building.

Getting used to bad luck was one thing for Jake, but whenever he really needed to do something very important and gets hindered by unluckiness, he didn't bother to remain calm. He was living in one of those moments.

"AND WHAT?! What's the next worse thing that could happen today?" he bellowed as he stared at the sky. Two large dark clouds stirred together, and a pitter-patter of footsteps and cascading raindrops echoed in his ears.

"I'm so sorry boys," he thought. "But I'm not giving up."

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"TOM!"

Jerry Mac became very frustrated as he watched the British boys pick up the trash bins and nervously shuffled around their obvious leader, who didn't bother to help. He just placed the thought on his head that these boys are going to help their business fly like a rocket sky-high. And at least most of the guests and customers didn't see their little arguments over jobs and food breaks.

"I don't want to touch it!" exclaimed the blonde. Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed the lid off the trash bin.

"It's easy. You will just pick up the plastic and come with us outside to dispose them," Dougie instructed like a kindergarten teacher. "Do you understand now, Tommy Tension?"

Tom glared at him and stuck his tongue out. "Don't call me that! And I'm not afraid! I just… think it's very unhygienic," he responded.

"We can all wash our hands ten times after we throw them, Tom," Danny said. "I'll be the one to open the lid of the trash outside."

"I thought I was," Harry said. Danny smirked evilly.

"Really? Then thanks for volunteering!" he jeered, dancing around like an overexcited monkey. Dougie chortled as Harry's face turned red.

"Danny, I hate you," he said.

"That's so sweet of you," Danny answered in a flattered tone. Tom laughed and didn't notice Dougie grab his hand and made it grip onto a plastic filled with disposables and other garbage. Tom finally noticed and winced.

"Don't worry, you clean freak!" Dougie exclaimed. "The dirt is in the plastic!"

After gathering all the plastics filled with rubbish and junk, the boys ran outside the Rock 'n' Bowl and admired the mix of blue and orange at the sky while walking closer to the trash disposals. A whip of strong wind lashed Danny in the face and he fell over Tom.

"What was that for?!" Tom screeched. He received his answer when a strong whoosh of wind blew their path. Dougie and Harry managed to drop the biggest plastics they held and the trash smothered their feet and Danny's pants.

"Gross! This is very disgusting!" Danny shouted, dusting pieces of waste and junk off his blue uniform.

"It's a very sunny afternoon, so why the heck did it become windy?" Harry asked angrily. They helped Danny up and watched the pieces of trash flee as the wind became stronger. Tom tugged Harry and Dougie's shirts and pointed at the distance. Rain fell over them soon enough.

"Look, it's Jake!" Tom exclaimed.

Jake walked closer to them and waved sheepishly.

"Jake, what happened? Did he get it?" Dougie asked.

The man faked a grin before telling the truth. "Eh… well… no. The guards kicked me out before I was able to get a hold of him."

"WHAT?!" they shouted in unison. The rain added in the annoyance the boys felt at the moment.

"This is the 3rd week, Jake!" Harry shouted.

"Almost a month!" Danny added. "Wait… it's almost a month, right?"

Harry and Dougie smacked Danny on the head and Tom pushed him at the shoulder.

"Of course it is!"

"I can't believe you're this thick," Harry joked. Danny rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't be that thick if you guys stopped hitting me on the head. I lose brain cells because of that," Danny huffed. He crossed his arms as Dougie teased him even more.

"You have brain cells?"

Tom smacked Dougie on the head. "That's one less brain cell for you. Anyway, Jake, are you sure you're going to get Damon Phillips the CD? We haven't any progress at all in promoting our album! Sure we ask some customers in the Rock 'n' Bowl to buy our CDs and recommend them to everyone, but it's not enough."

"I know, I know, but I'll do my best, I promise. I won't fail you guys, because even if I am the Mayor of the Unlucky Town, I can still fulfill my duties and pledges, especially important ones."

"Speaking of bad luck, isn't this a horrible weather?" Danny added.

Jake nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I… kind of had that rain cloud following me from the other side of the city."

"Well, let's just hope it won't go in the Rock 'n' Bowl! But then, clouds don't fit in there," said Danny. Harry almost kicked him with that remark.

"Danny, rain clouds CAN'T go inside buildings!" Tom screeched.

"You don't have to be mean to tell me that," Danny whimpered.

The boys threw the trash and led Jake inside the Rock 'n' Bowl, helping him carry his coffee-stained backpack and personally cleaned his smudged up glasses after asking Jerry for their payment on the jobs. Jake reassured to himself he would be able to help them once and for all, seeing as the boys were really nice to him even if he failed them for a month.

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_The "brain cells" jokes made by McFly are inspired by their behind the scenes of JML. Haha, I just love Danny so much! And I just can't stop writing Jake's bad luck moments. It's quite enjoyable actually. xD Oh, and I have to apologize, since I thought the manager of the Rock 'n' Bowl's name wasn't mentioned so I called him Jerry, until I realized he was called Mac! So yeah, I combined the names to avoid some problems. xD And yes, the girls Jake bump to in this chapter are Maggie and Dana, but Ashley's out of the picture first. She'll come soon though, as well as more McFly madness! Please R&R, no flames hopefully. :) Stay tuned for the next chapters!_


	4. Coffee and Jailhouses

_A/N: Okay, like I said, this is the chapter where canon-JML movie scenes appear. Filled with lots of McFly and coffee talk, and the scenes where Jake has the worst streak of bad luck finding Damon Phillips. Thanks again to _**McSteph **_for reviewing! :D I'm gonna give shoutouts and thanks to everyone who reviews. :) I'm pretty happy with this story. I can't stop writing the McFLY scenes, and Jake's fun to write too. And yes, Ashley Albright will come soon. She'll arrive before the 10th chapter, honest. :) Well, read away! It's one of the craziest McFly chapters I made because of coffee. xD_

Disclaimer: I don't own McFLY, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, or Just My Luck. I just own this nifty idea.

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 4: Coffee and Jailhouses

It was the last day of the 3rd week McFLY waited and spent their time in the Rock 'n' Bowl to wait for Jake's promise to be fulfilled. The boys expected more after 3 weeks, but it turned out they were the ones who made the appointment to get a record deal while Jake roamed around and unsuccessfully tried his best to catch Damon Phillips and end up hurt every time.

"It was a good idea to set up an appointment with those record dealers, Tom," Danny said, grinning as he sipped his cold chocolate shake. "We could get Damon Phillips' attention soon!"

"Of course. I had to think of something so Jake wouldn't tire himself and get more bad luck," replied Tom.

"Tom, can you pass the Oreos?" Dougie asked, his mouth filled with egg sandwich bits.

"Would you like some milk with that too?" Tom joked, handing over the dark chocolate cookies. Dougie chugged down his cup of water before eating the cookie delicacy.

Harry made sure Tom didn't steal his coffee, which remained untouched for the end of his meal. He saw the older boy eye down his coffee cup and asked himself why he didn't order a smoothie or juice. Danny might've been smarter than him for that because he knew Tom's addiction to coffee, especially Starbucks, and bought chocolate shakes to replace coffee in the Rock 'n' Bowl.

"Harry, is that a Frappuccino?" Tom asked all of a sudden. Harry shook his head. "I thought you only like Starbucks?"

"What do they sell in Starbucks? Coffee, and you have coffee right there," the blonde responded.

"This is why I love to buy chocolate shakes in the morning here, Doug," Danny whispered to Dougie.

The youngest boy nodded. "I don't bother to order. I just ask for water."

"I wonder what Jake's up to now. He's our American manager now, so we should be concerned," Danny said, taking another small sip with his straw of his chocolate shake.

"Probably hunting Phillips down," replied Harry, finally chugging down his coffee, to Tom's dismay. "And I predict he might fall in a fountain today. If he does, you're going to pay me a dollar, Dougie." His best friend snorted in his glass of water.

"Never going to happen, Harry."

"I want some more coffee," Tom mumbled, staring at his and Harry's empty coffee cups. Danny decided to give Tom a treat by offering to buy him a Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino. Tom asked if he could get a Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino instead. Dougie and Harry raised their eyebrows at him, until Danny caved in and said he was going to buy them their coffees of their choice.

"But the coffee's not Starbucks. I'm gonna buy your coffee here," he said. Tom laughed at the demise of the other two groaning miserably.

"At least Dunkin' Donuts coffee? Please, Danny?" Dougie begged. Danny shook his head, retorting.

"If I were to treat you guys, either you should feel gloomy like Tom or you have a condition," Danny joked. He didn't know the two would take it so seriously when Dougie punched his own leg and Harry bumped his own head.

"It was a joke!" he exclaimed, after watching the two suffer their self-torture. They instantly shot glare daggers at him until he caved in again. "Okay! Okay! I'll buy you guys Dunkin' Donut coffees. That fine to you guys?"

Dougie and Harry immediately grabbed Tom and Danny out of the Rock 'n' Bowl excitedly.

"They're just as excited as you are for coffee," Danny grumbled to Tom, the blonde chuckling nervously.

"You offered, so your fault," teased Tom. They finally realized Dougie and Harry were very fast runners as well.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

And speaking of running, Jake wasn't far from them trying to walk faster as well. He held the CD case as tightly as he could. He passed the sidewalk, checking for things that he might bump, or people he might accidentally hurt.

"I'm the master of my universe… positive energy, positive results," he said to himself.

As he turned to check at his left, a taxi passed him quickly, and water from a puddle splattered him from head to toe. Wiping his face and glasses clean, he finally turns his sight to a tall gray building and a familiar sound of barking filled his ears. He found Damon Phillips exiting the building neatly, holding his dog's leash.

"Oh, perfect! Taking the dog for a walk," he said to himself happily. He took a deep breath and rehearsed one last time what he had to say to him.

"Good morning, Mr. Phillips. I want to introduce you to the hottest band in New York City." He grinned, raising the CD case.

"'m gonna make it, Tom," he uttered as he took a step. Water splashed around his pants as he stepped accidentally on the puddle.

"Oh perfect!" he groaned in annoyance.

He turned his head as he examined the fairly large puddle and noticed a bronze-like circle shining in the middle. He grinned as he recognized it as a coin.

"Huh." Jake scanned around for any onlookers and grinned. "Found a penny."

It was indeed lucky to find one in such places, even if it was worth a few. He bent down and heard a rip. The next thing he felt was a draft and cold wind at his backside. He exhaled in frustration as he held the ripped side of his pants and pulled it up. He took a glance at the penny and Damon Phillips walking away. As much as he would love to earn the penny, he knew what he had to do. He ran across the street, clutching and checking his pants to hide the nasty rip.

"Mr. Phillips, excuse me!" His pants slipped off and pulled it up again. It was the worst case of bad luck trying to stop him from getting to Phillips. But if he was given the task, he was lucky enough to be entrusted. And that's what kept him going on.

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"This is the best coffee treat ever, Danny!" exclaimed Harry, closing the door as the other three sat down on their regular table at the Rock 'n' Bowl. He joined them in coffee-drinking peace as they watched customers and employees interact with each other in the biotic to biotic ecosystem-like setting were in.

"Well, you guys owe me," said Danny gruffly, chugging down his Java Chip Frappuccino. The three gave him a defiant stare until he nervously stammered out that he was joking.

"This feels just like home," Tom said in a relaxed manner, leaning on his chair like a carefree lad. Dougie sipped his tall cup of coffee and smirked at them, especially Danny.

"And we didn't waste any money on it! Sorry I can't say the same for you, Danny," he said, grinning. Danny sarcastically beamed cheekily as he imagined himself punching Dougie in the nose after infuriating him.

"Stop it, Doug. Danny's sensitive about it," Harry joked. Danny wished he didn't offer anything at all as he stared at the tiny television screen right above the counter of the Rock 'n' Bowl counter. He found it calming and ignored the jeering and taunts the other two were making about him and his treat.

"Well, I just hope Jake's coming and he got Damon Phillips the CD. We're going to practice right after this extremely long coffee break," Tom said, taking a huge sip of coffee as he stared at the tiny telly above as he sat next to Danny.

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Jake thought to himself that he was making progress and that his unluckiness was turning around as he found Damon Phillips stopping. The man raised a piece of tiny paper Jake couldn't read, and tossed it in the trash. He continued walking and Jake found himself getting closer.

"Hi," he greeted a standing police man as he passed the stand of the statue. "Good morning," the cop replied nicely. Jake walked closer as Damon and his dog went father, and his pacing made his backpack slip off his shoulder. He pulled it up and gripped it above his jacket. He looked around, and found a 5 dollar bill in the trash. He stared around again, to avoid funny looks.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed after a short laugh. He grabbed the bill and placed it in his pocket. At least, he knew he placed it in his pocket. He raised his hand and noticed the bill was stuck on it.

"Does it have glue on it or something?" he asked himself angrily as he shook it. Seeing a brown, soft substance on it with a horrible stench meant one thing – dog poop.

"Oh… ohuoargh!" he mumbled, staring at his hand and the bill in disgust. He ran towards the park's fountain pool and asked forgiveness from Mother Nature as he shook his dipped hand quickly until the bill and the pieces of feces detached his skin. He heard the dog barking and knew Damon Phillips was going farther. He stood up and felt an unnatural weight slam onto his body. Jake tumbled down, his knees weakly trying to help, and felt his back make contact on the concrete ground, locks of hair smothering his face.

Jake rolled around and saw a girl in pink on him. "Oh, gosh, are you okay?" he asked, wincing. It was barely heard over the girl's shrieks of anger.

"I am so sorry!" The girl continued hitting him with her fists as he stood up and offered to help her up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Let me help you up… ouch! Ow! Look, I'm helping… Let me help you up! Stop hitting me! Let me help you up! It was an accident!"

The girl finally stopped hitting him, a shocked expression crawling upon her face. Jake finally knew why when he felt a heavy load on his feet and a draft on his legs.

"Stupid pants!" he thought. It was like fate was avoiding him to help McFLY or something, and that was terrible.

"Oh my God!" the girl screeched. "HELP! HELP!"

"What does she need help for? I have the worn out pants and bad luck!" Jake yelled angrily in a thought.

"HEY YOU! STAY THERE!" he heard a muffled voice shout. It was probably the police man with a mouth full of donuts.

"This is not what… this is not good, not good," Jake said, swinging his backpack back on his shoulder. It was worse when a man in blue took a picture of it with a black camera. Finally, the cop came, trying to run while holding a donut and a cup of coffee.

"STAY THERE!"

It was best for Jake to try running while the cop dropped his donut and spilled his coffee all over his uniform. He tried to pull his pants up until the girl kicked the middle of his legs. It was like receiving an atomic wedgy while being punched in the face. He mustered all his energy and pulled up his pants and winced in pain.

"I need back up!" shouted the cop in his walkie-talkie. Jake swung his backpack again over his shoulder and tried to tell the girl that he wasn't doing anything and everything was an accident.

"Hey you, stay there!" the cop shouted again as Jake dodged a kick from the girl. He sprinted away as fast as he could and found himself at the end of the park, Damon Phillips talking in his phone and making his way inside a car.

"Sir, sir, excuse me!" he shouted as loudly as he could. He didn't care if his pants were falling. He took his chance.

"Good morning, Mr. Phillips, I have a brand new…"

He felt the words fail him as he felt a heavy pressure on his back forcing him to fall on the pavement. It wasn't too late for him as he accidentally tossed the CD and it landed right under the car. "Mr. Phillips!"

"Give me your hand, pervert!" shouted the cop. "You smell like dog poop!"

It was all over when the car door closed and the vehicle drove away, smashing the CD in the process. The sound of the cracking case was all he needed to hear before giving up for the day.

"Hey officer, could you take me to 36 Precinct? They're nice to me there," he requested. He felt relieved when luck gave him some good as the cop decided to take him to his requested station.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

Back at the bowling alley, Danny finally received payment from the three boys as they set up the entire stage for their act; Dougie wired up the amplifiers while Tom busied himself into fixing their positions. Harry fixed up the drums and Danny? Danny went bowling by himself.

"Best way to repay a treat, this is!" Danny hollered, smoothly rolling a sapphire blue pearlized bowling ball across the lane, watching it hit six pins.

"Yeah, real nice," Harry grumbled. Dougie plugged an unknown wire and a loud screech came around them.

"Wrong wire!" Dougie said, apologizing to the others.

"Doug, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Tom asked, glaring at him. Dougie simply grinned with eyes closed, pretending to be as innocent as he could be.

"You know every single cord there and you say it's wrong?" asked Harry, jealously looking at Danny finally hitting a strike at bowling.

"Oh, don't get jealous," snapped Tom. "He deserves it."

Harry asked himself if Danny really deserved it while the Bolton boy danced around like a monkey while pressing his fingers in another bowling ball's holes. But even though it was the temporary thought in his mind, he was worrying about Jake deep inside. And that was the exact way the other three were feeling.

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_I've got the next chapter all planned out, so I might be updating sooner after this. Please R&R, no flames hopefully. :)_


	5. Rehearsals Gone Haywire

_A/N: Okay, seriously having fun writing this! I think Ashley's going to be in the next chapter, for sure. :) Or the 7th chapter, a formal introduction. Eh, whatever, she'll come! Thanks again to _**McSteph **_for the review! It's always a pleasure seeing them! :D So yeah, this is still a canon-JML chapter, and I took most of the dialogue there, of course. This is one of my favorite chapters, to be honest. Now read away! :D_

Disclaimer: I don't own McFLY, their songs, or Just My Luck.

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 5: Rehearsals Gone Haywire

A few minutes later, Jake was released from the jailhouse and stepped out under a sudden rain again. He took out his beanie and groaned in defeat as he carried himself around the city to go back home before returning to the Rock 'n' Bowl. After a few blocks, he walked up the steps of his apartment and breathed in the fresh air of home.

He knocked the 11th door and stood two doors across, sticking a wad of gum on the leprechaun cutting on his door. "Katy, I'm home."

The door opened and he turned around, looking at the brown-eyed girl with a blue robot toy on her face.

"Hey. What happened to you?"

The girl opened the door widely and chewed some gum before replying. "4th grade boys," she replied nonchalantly. Bad luck ran through their veins, being related to each other; being cousins, Katy Applee, like Jake, had to start off bad luck in school.

"They're the worst, aren't they? Let me see," Jake said, kneeling over and checking his little cousin's face.

"What's it stuck on with?" he asked, curious. It was rare to have a plastic toy stuck on someone's face for a very long time.

"Crazy glue," Katy replied, chewing some more gum.

Jake slapped his forehead mentally. Of course, crazy glue! That's what the bullies used against him when he fell asleep in their History class when he was a 3rd grader. They glued his face and hands on the table, and he had to be sent to the nurse immediately.

"Huh, Been there," he said, shuddering at the very memory. "At least you have something better glued than me."

He rummaged his bag and found a paper bag. He grinned as he handed it to Katy.

"Burger?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course!" he replied cheerfully. "Ketchup for you."

"Hey Katy, where's my bun?" asked an elderly woman from inside Katy's flat.

"Oh, it's in the oven, gramma," she replied.

"She put her bun in the oven?" Jake asked, checking his bag for more things.

"Hey Jake," said Katy's grandma.

"Hey, Aunt Martha," he said, beaming at the old woman. Aunt Martha was Katy's grandmother from her father's side, and was the only remaining relative of the girl, besides Jake and his part of the family, of course. The old woman bent down and opened the oven, grabbing a fake hair bun out of it. She wore it on her head.

"Katy, I'll be back after my shift at midnight," she said, and she kissed Katy's forehead.

"Cool."

"Stay out of trouble," she added, patting Katy's shoulder softly.

"Love you, Jake," Aunt Martha said, patting his shoulder. "Love you too."

"Katy, mind your cousin," she said. Jake chuckled at it. "I'll keep an eye on her," Jake said.

"See ya."

Jake raised a cotton he dabbed with alcohol and acetone mixed together. "Ready?"

"Wait," the girl said, hesitating. "Is it gonna sting? Coz I kind of like… wearing it."

"It's not gonna sting if you hold still," he replied, holding the feet of the plastic robot. He applied the mixture of alcohol softly and pulled the toy.

"Ow, ow!"

"Okay, hold still! It's doing fine! What's that… 1… 2… 3… there you go, there you go!"

Jake smugly held the toy and pulled off the remains of glue off Katy's face. "Alright, what do you say?"

He knew the girl grinned at him. "Thank you, Jake. You're my hero."

"Give me some skin," Jake said. They slapped each other's hands and fist-bumped.

"I'm gonna take this. This is definitely a choking hazard."

"Okay."

"Bye," Jake said, opening the door of his flat.

"See ya."

He banged his fists on his door until the doorknob turned. Closing it, he tripped on a small thread and heard the horseshoe above his door outside lose its screw and faced downwards. He crashed onto his glass plates and smashed them on the floor.

"Oh, not again!"

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"Harry, stop the beat first," Tom said, adjusting the volume of his guitar. Harry hesitantly put down his drumsticks as Dougie sat on the stage floor lazily and groaned in frustration and impatience.

"What time is Jake coming?" asked the youngest boy. Harry stepped on the bass drum pedal and surprised Dougie. "What was that for?"

"And I thought I was the thickest," said Danny, strumming his guitar. "Never place your head right in front of the bass drum, especially when Harry's behind it."

It was to their delight that Jake was coming. Just across the road, he left his apartment and avoided looking at the smoky side, checking his watch instead. He heard a splat, and found white pigeon dirt on his jacket's shoulder. "Thanks," he said sarcastically, walking down the street. He wiped the dirt off and avoided a bicycle, the rider swearing at him. With his back turned, he didn't notice a black car headed right for him until it screeched stopping.

"Hey, watch it!" shouted the driver.

"Okay, okay," Jake said. He was very happy the Rock 'n' Bowl was right in front of him.

"Yeah, 1… 2, check, sound check," clicked Danny on the microphone. Harry knew the signal and hit his cymbals. The boys practiced their song "Five Colors in Her Hair" once again.

**_She's got a lip-ring and five colors in her hair  
Not into fashion but I love the clothes she wear  
And her tattoo's always hidden by her underwear  
She don't ca-are!_**

It was the refreshing sound of music to Jake as Danny sang, Tom in the background, and the bowling pins toppling over because of the balls made him feel safe and happy again.

"Hey, Jake!" shouted Jerry Mac from the counter.

"Hey, Mac!" he replied. He happily went over the sound board, dropping his backpack to his side as he sat down. The melodic harmony of the three boys singing and Harry hitting the drums, beat perfect as always, was what he needed to get over the bad luck. He plugged in an extra cord and fixed up the sound.

**_Everybody wants to know her na-ia-ia-iame  
I threw a house party and she ca-ia-ia-iame  
Everyone asked me, "Who the hell is she?"  
That weirdo with five colors in her hair_**

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tom shouted through the microphone as Danny played the riff on his guitar. "Hey Jake! How'd it go?" he asked.

He nervously replied with thumbs up, which were supposed to be thumbs down, to his dismay. Tom and Danny exchanged glances, thinking it was a miracle Jake did it.

"So, you got Phillips the CD?" he asked again, moving the mike stand.

"Ah… not exactly," Jake replied. It was useless to lie. He already had a streak of bad luck, and lying is something against his morals. The McFLY boys on the other hand, felt upset and slightly relieved that Jake wasn't able to give Damon Phillips their CD.

"You know, we had some scheduling conflicts we had to deal with and…" Jake walked closer to them, and was interrupted by Harry.

"Jake, this has been going on for weeks," the drummer said, spinning his drumstick on one hand.

"Guys, we're right on track. Trust me! There are even gonna be a couple of inner guys tonight," he reassured, even though they were right and it was very tiresome to try and try again and fail badly. If he only knew it was Tom who set up the appointment. The blonde exchanged nervous looks with his band mates as Jerry Mac approached Jake.

"Hey Jake, there's a clogged toilet in the men's room," he said. They knew what he was implying immediately. Danny felt a need to throw up in Harry's blue beanie styled hat as he remembered Tom throwing the toilet brush at him the other day.

"Uh… I'm looking forward to plunging it, Mac…" Tom and Danny looked at each other and knew that it wasn't something to look forward to. "… but," he looked at his watch before continuing. "… not until my shift starts which is in 2 hours."

"Good save," Danny whispered to Tom. Too bad Jerry Mac wasn't that thick. Dougie snorted softly as Jerry Mac raised a black toilet plunger, a piece of toilet paper wrapped around it.

"Pretend it's a Grammy," he said, handing it over to Jake. Danny couldn't help but grin cheekily. Tom shuddered as he remembered using the plunger while Dougie grinned at Tom's expression, remembering his cries and pleading about switching jobs with him and Harry. Jake knew he should plunge it before he gets fired.

"Grammy? Grammy it is. Okay," he said, taking hold of the plunger. He inhaled deeply before turning back to the boys, who seemed very amused at the situation.

"So while I take care of this, keep up the energy, hit that G, Tom! We're gonna have a great show tonight!" he said loudly, walking towards the men's lavatory. It was a nasty job, but when Harry started hitting his drumsticks together, it was worth it anyway. To him, being a janitor and waiter was a part-time job. Being McFLY's manager in the US was his real one.

**_She's just a loner with a sexy attitude  
I'd like to phone her coz she puts me in the mood  
The rumor's spreading 'round that she cooks in the nude  
She don't care, she don't caaaaaaaare!_**

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The evening mood of the Rock 'n' Bowl became extremely lively and light as more people came in. Chatters and laughter filled the ears of everyone as they sat, ate, or simply stirred up a conversation with each other. Jake didn't feel light as chills went down his spine. There were people from the record dealers' company and this might be the very last chance to get things right in an easy way. He fixed the bowling shoes and jumped off his counter, hoping the boys were ready as ever for a very important night.

As he passed young adults and teens chatting, he grinned with excitement and anxiety. McFLY might become even more famous with the young crowd if they got everything right this evening. He knew things would go greatly, but the fact he's the magnet of unluckiness makes him doubt everything.

Jake reached the table where two smartly dressed men positioned in and gave them a soft pat in the back.

"Hi, how are you?" he asked, walking towards the stage.

"Hi," one of them replied. Was everything going to be fine tonight? Jake motioned the boys to go to the stage.

"Guys, you're on," he said. The boys sitting at the side of the stage in boredom hopped to their feet and walked on the stage. Tom grinned at the wide crowd and started untangling the cords on the floor.

"Gentlemen, enjoy the show. Cocktails on us," he heard Jake say. Dougie tapped a string and watched the people below them whisper to each other and take glances at them.

"This is gonna be great," Danny told the three. "You guys having Goosebumps?"

"No, but I bet Tom's sweating like a pig again," replied Harry, spinning his drumsticks. Tom shot a small glare at the drummer and returned his attention to Jake, who was fixing the soundboard and mixer. The light dimmed and his voice echoed around the room. The boys felt their hearts beat faster and faster.

"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the hottest rock band in New York City – McFLY!"

The place lit up for dramatic effect, and Harry started tapping his cymbals loudly as the three boys strummed and fingered their guitars. Cheers and applause arose, along with the boys' joy and excitement.

Danny strummed the last chord before concentrating on the microphone. Tom did the same.

**_She's got a lip-ring and five colors in her hair  
Not into fashion but I love the clothes she wears  
And her tattoo's always hidden by her underwear  
She don't ca-are!_**

Majority of the people were nodding and grinning, some bopped their heads along with the beat of the drums. Dougie felt very smug as he saw Jerry Mac nodding his head. Jake gave them two thumbs up as he watched, but slipped at the last moment and his feet ended up entangled with the cords, now unplugged from the mixer.

**_Everybody wants to know her…_**

"**Na**-ia-**ia**-iame…" Danny immediately covered his ears as the high-pitched screech boomed on their eardrums.

"Keep on going! I got it!" shouted Jake, hanging for his dear life on the bars. Danny bent down and remained covering his ears from the painful sound. Tom and Dougie covered their ears as well, but weren't as affected as Danny because they listened to Harry's drumming. The drummer remained untouched and unaffected with thanks to his instruments.

A large electrical spark emitted from the back and they immediately knew Jake tried to plug in the cords without turning it off. It was very dangerous!

"What is he thinking?" Tom asked quietly.

But Jake didn't care. The people needed to see how great McFLY was, but again, his bad luck loved to come in between everything. The boys, especially Tom, felt very aggrieved when the executives left their seats and out of the bowling alley.

"Look at that," Danny said, frustrated, pointing at the men. Tom's expression dropped to a very dark frown. Dougie eyed down Jerry Mac accompanying them out.

"Traitor," Dougie muttered under his breath.

"He can't do anything, Doug. If he was a traitor, he won't let us play," Tom said, trying to get his attention. Harry's drumming was getting louder by the second, as well as the babbles and whispers from the bunch of people. Jake gripped his head and dropped his head on the platform, grieving once again because of his bad luck pitching at the wrong time.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

As Tom turned off the lights of the bowling alley, he scanned the empty place before grabbing the handle of his guitar case, following his band mates to exit the Rock 'n' Bowl.

Harry carried a round black bag and approached Jake, seeing as Tom was too stunned to talk to Jake about the executives he called left.

"You… you're firing me, but you don't even pay me," said Jake, watching Dougie and Danny carry their bags and walk away from him.

"Look, Jake, you're good. I mean, you did find us, but just…"

"But? What's the but?" Jake asked nervously. Harry led him to the exit of the place before continuing, but Tom decided to talk.

"But we just think it's time to go home," the blonde replied in defeat.

"No, you can't go back home! We were close this time, we…"

"We didn't have any lucky breaks over here and…" Danny decided to interrupt him.

"And poor Doug misses his mum!" he added with a cheeky grin. Why was it always Danny who would lighten up the mood? Tom, Harry and Jake found themselves grinning as Dougie grimaced.

"He does, he cries every night." Danny pointed to Dougie with his thumb and smiled, but the youngest boy punched him in the shoulder. It was a loud thump and Tom and Harry resisted to look at Danny in pain.

"ARGH!"

"One week," Jake stammered out. It was worth a shot, and he couldn't bear to lose the first band he's ever managed. "How's that? How's that?"

Harry huffed in provocation. Tom and Dougie nervously listened. Danny pretended to, but really thought of how ridiculous their performance was a while ago.

"One week, you give me one week, and if I can't make it happen for you guys by then, then… then I get it. We're done, you can go home, no hard feelings. One week," he said, finishing his offer.

Tom glanced at each of them and Danny shrugged when their eyes met. Danny was always a chance-giver.

"Okay, one week," Tom finally responded. He and Harry held up a finger for one.

"One week? Alright! Get some rest, guys." Jake grinned as he watched the boys leave.

"Mum's gonna have to wait one more week, Doug!" he heard Danny holler. Tom laughed loudly and another thump came from below.

"That's what you get, Danny," Harry jeered.

"We all know you're the one missing your mum," Dougie growled, opening the exit of the bowling alley with a smug Harry, a hysterical Tom and Danny clutching his bags and painful shoulder.

Above the stairs, Jake grabbed a mop and exhaled. "One week… one week."

* * *

_So he's about to be lucky soon! Yay! Even though it's fun to write Jake's misfortune, his luck is coming and staying for a while. Please R&R, no flames hopefully! :D_


	6. Jake's Enchanted Evening

_A/N: Hey guys! I'm back with probably the longest chapter of this story right now! I was about to split it into two, but I promised Ashley would be in this chapter, so here it is! Thanks again to _**McSteph **_for the review again, and thanks to _**CorruptedLies **_for reading this as well and reviewing on twitter! Also to my friends _**Stephanie**_ and _**Kara**_ who I chat with on twitter and read this story too! :D I dedicate this chapter to you guys, and also to whoever reads. This chapter is mostly Jake because of the party, hence the chapter name. I had to do research just to find the songs used in the masquerade bash for this chapter to maintain the canon-JML-ness. So, read away! I hope you guys would like this. :)_

Disclaimer: I don't own McFLY/the McFLY boys, Just My Luck, or the songs _Dance _by _Shaznay Lewis _or _Only This Moment _by _Röyksopp_.

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 6: Jake's Enchanting Evening

The McFLY boys apologized to Jake the next day for being testy towards him after the entire concert chaos. Danny looked the least guilty because he knew he didn't doubt Jake on anything, except when he tried to plug in the cords and getting electrocuted.

They sat on their regular table and watched Jake mop the floor, eating donuts and cookies. Dougie finally treated himself with some juice, knowing that Tom would make googly eyes at his cup if it had coffee instead. Harry tried to steal some of Danny's cookies but ended up getting hit in the hand.

"Ow!"

"Eat your own cookies, Harry!" Danny shouted.

"So Jake, we forgot to ask, but how was your day yesterday?" asked Tom. He looked flushed at the way he felt the day ago towards the problematic show and Jake.

"Oh, well… it wasn't the best day, but I can live with it," replied Jake, mopping the floor behind them.

"Really? What happened? Besides the whole performance fiasco," Dougie said, sipping his juice straw afterwards. "I mean, what happened while you were looking for Damon Phillips?"

Harry's eyes widened all of a sudden and started waving his hands in the air like a child.

"Oh, oh, oh! Did you fall in a fountain?"

Danny and Tom, who knew nothing of the bet between him and Dougie, stared at him with astonishment. Jake raised an eyebrow curiously and Dougie glared at him.

"No… I had a different experience with the fountain… kinda embarrassing if you ask me," he said, sitting on a neighboring table, still holding the mop.

"Won't you get caught by Mr. Mac?" asked Tom worriedly.

"N'aw, he won't mind. There's not much business this morning."

"Pay up, Harry!" Dougie declared, jumping off his seat and hysterically ran around the bowling alley for five minutes. Harry groaned angrily and shoved a dollar on Dougie's hand when the youngest boy returned to his seat.

"I told you he won't fall in it!" Dougie shouted once more. Danny nervously moved his chair away from him.

"So," Harry said, finishing the conversation with Dougie. "What happened yesterday anyway, especially with the fountain?"

"That's pretty stupid to make a bet about a fountain," Danny said softly. Dougie and Harry grimaced at him until Tom snapped them out of it, telling them to pay attention to Jake.

"Well… I was looking around town for him and I saw him come out of a building... I don't think you guys would like to hear it. It's too long."

"We can take it!" Danny said loudly. "You should listen to Tom's stories. They take hours!"

Dougie started laughing after Danny toppled off his chair "accidentally", Tom whistling and avoiding the Bolton boy's stare as he fixed himself up again.

"This is why I don't insult Tom's stories," Harry joked. Danny spanked him with his beanie before returning his attention to Jake, who was very ready to narrate his misadventures.

"Okay, so I was looking for him around town and I finally found him. I followed him to the park and eventually, I saw a five dollar bill in the trash."

"Did you take it?" Dougie asked, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"Who wouldn't take it? I took my chance, since, after all, it was in the trash. It wasn't owned or claimed by anyone because it was in the trash. So I took it, and I put it in my pocket, but it was stuck on my hand…"

"Glue?" the boys asked altogether in unison. Jake shook his head.

"It was worse," he said. The boys started acting like children in school raising their hands to recite in class.

"Was it sticky paper?" asked Harry, jumping on his seat.

"Was it soda that stuck it on your hand?" Tom suggested.

"Was it a paper magnet?" Dougie asked this time, excited to know the answer.

"Ooh, ooh! I know what it was! It was glue, wasn't it?" Danny said happily, jumping on his seat. The boys gave him a confused and amused look. Dougie and Harry looked most likely to taunt him again. Tom just wanted to smack the living daylights out of Danny again.

"Danny, he said it wasn't glue," Tom said, trying to stop the temptation to hit Danny in the head.

"Oh… well, was it paste?" The boys smacked their foreheads.

"Nope. It was horrible, very, very horrible. It was his dog's…"

"Poo? Gross!" the boys shouted.

"That's definitely worse than glue or paste combined!" Danny screeched.

"Okay, how did you guys know that?" Jake asked. The boys burst out laughing. "C'mon Jake, we all know if it's sticky and worse than paste, it had to be poo!" Dougie said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Jake thought it sounded really disturbing for the boys to know about that, but he shook the thought and continued his story.

"Anyway, I had to wash the thing off my hand so I… used the fountain. Luckily, they clean the water so I won't get sued… probably. I was about to stand up when this girl bumped on me and she thought I was harassing her! I was trying to help her up, but my pants didn't help me at all."

"Let me guess, your pants fell down?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, and did I mention before I went to the park… I found a penny in a puddle?" he asked. The boys shook their heads.

"Did you get it?" asked Danny. The Bolton boy seemed like he was being told a bedtime story.

"No. I was about to… but my pants ripped, and Damon Phillips was getting away," Jake answered, shuddering at the memory.

"No wonder your pants fell off," Harry said.

"So the park security caught me and sent me to jail, and then eventually the entire night became crazy as well," Jake finished. The boys swore their dropped jaws reached the floor.

"You were in jail?" Tom asked in a state of shock.

"Even if you were innocent?" Harry asked.

"Even if your pants were the real culprit?" Danny questioned. The boys looked at him again. Dougie was the only one who found it very funny.

Jake exhaled after remembering the entire evening. "Well, I'm going to do my best today. I heard from my source that Mr. Phillips is attending a huge party bash and it's definitely a chance to get him to listen to your album."

"There's a party?" Danny asked, jumping off his seat excitedly. "Can I come?"

"No can do, Danny!" Harry said, pulling the Bolton boy back to his seat.

"Yeah. We have to clean up the hotel room. Your little football game almost cost a hotel lamp!" Tom exclaimed angrily. "And Dougie just broke a cabinet last time. We don't need any more reasons to pay the hotel again."

Jake watched them argue and chuckled. The McFly boys were very talented in music, but acted just like little kids. They were still young anyway, younger than him, at least. Dougie was still 18, Danny was a year older than him, and Tom and Harry were two years older than Dougie while Jake was already 23. It was delightful to see the boys very cheerful anyway. Unlike him, they grew up without any problems with luck. They were very famous and yet, they were just like regular people.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a loud thump and saw Harry on the floor, clutching his stomach as Danny whimpered and lowered his head on the table. Tom looked very shocked. Jake figured Dougie was the source of it.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Dougie… NEVER… EVER… say that again!" Tom shouted.

"What happened?" he asked for the second time. Danny looked traumatized to answer, holding his head down on the table even more, covering his ears. Tom was telling Dougie off and Harry continued laughing. He groaned and felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Jake, what are you doing slacking around?"

He looked up and saw Mac with an angry expression written on his face.

"Sorry, I was just…"

"If you want to take a break, wait until your morning shift is over and rest before you afternoon shift starts, okay? Now go mopping!"

Jake sheepishly stood up and continued his mopping, watching the boys continue squabbling and the floor shined as his mop made contact with it. He thought of his strategy later on, because a party with Damon Phillips meant one thing – VIP's only.

Sneaking in was one thing, but security guards were another story. He knew those kinds of parties – famous people, loud music, bands, dancers, and mean, bulky security guards. VIPs would tip them while people out of the lists were tipped out of the party gate.

"Guys, can you help me with one thing?" he asked, looking back at the boys' table. It was a silly sight, the boys gripping each others' hair. They grinned innocently and returned to sitting properly, fixing each others' hair. Harry's hair looked the messiest, looking like grass with bite marks from goats or cows.

"Uh… was I interrupting something?"

"No!" they replied immediately, still grinning. "So… what can we help you with?"

"Do you guys know how to sneak in VIP parties?" he asked. The boys looked at each other with amused faces. "Okay, I know you guys are probably invited in every party anyway, but…"

"But nothing!" Dougie exclaimed, grinning as mischievously as the others.

"We might not look like it, but we do sneak in!" Harry added.

"We're not always invited to big parties, you know," said Tom.

"Yeah, I'm the master planner," Danny said smugly. Tom snorted and gave the Bolton boy a painless slap on his back.

"Haha! Good one, Dan!"

"I wasn't joking," said Danny, eyeing Tom down suspiciously. Tom decided to drag the conversation out of trouble as he asked, "So, what exactly is the party like?"

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

"_Remember, use the power of sneaky!"_

"_Danny, that is probably the smartest advice you ever gave," said Dougie. Danny just rolled his eyes._

"_And remember, if Mr. Phillips wants to play our CD in the party too, with all means, say yes!" Harry hollered, pushing Tom and the door of the Rock 'n' Bowl. Jake simply saluted the boys and left, holding the CD in one hand and his backpack on the other, ensuring it won't fall off his shoulder._

"_Harry, never push me again! Now I haven't anything to say to Jake because I forgot it!" shouted Tom from behind. Jake chuckled and looked at the boys one last time before continuing his endeavor to the party._

"How did I get myself in this situation anyway?" Jake asked himself, snapping out of the flashback. There he was, standing in the sidewalk where many people dressed in suits, dresses and party attire passed him and interacted with the security guard, and eventually passing them as well. He breathed in deeply and exhaled, and finally found the courage to try to enter.

"Use the power of sneaky, thanks Danny," he thought sarcastically. "But McFly, this is for McFly, this is for a better life, this is for better music, this is for the boys, for everything."

He casually ran behind a smartly-dressed man and followed him. After a minute, the guard allowed him to pass. Jake decided to walk as quickly as he could before the guard blocked the way, but it was too late.

"And you are?"

"Well, I'm a guest!" Jake said, laughing.

"No really, you are?"

"I'm… uh… I'm plus one on the list, see?" He grabbed the clipboard and shuffled the pages. Danny would be very disappointed with him for not using the power of sneaky tonight.

"We've got another freeloader," the guard said, holding his earphone close.

"Oh boy, I'm dead," Jake thought.

After a minute or so, the guard motioned his arm. "Take him away." Two burlier and bigger men arrived and lifted Jake off his feet. He struggled in hopes to enter, but no prevail.

"Guys, I'm on the list! I'm plus one! I'm on the list! It's the jacket, it's totally!"

Jake's body flung back to the sidewalk. He was hoping for a better way to be kicked out, especially since he tumbled and bumped a blonde and fell backwards again.

"Ow, my foot!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry. They threw me!" he said in a frustrated tone. The girl and her companion sneered.

"What a loser."

He grunted in irritation as he walked away from the party. There must be some way to get in it!

_Use the power of sneaky, Jake. Use the power of sneaky…_

"I wonder what the boys are up to now," he thought.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

"HARRY! You better clean the table or I'll kick your behind out the window!" shouted Tom.

"Tell Dougie to clean it! Those were his chips!" replied the boy.

"No way! You slobbered all over them and spilled the chip dip. You clean it up!" Dougie shouted.

Danny felt in the mood to escape the hotel room for the hour before everything became uglier. "I think I should use the power of sneaky," he whispered to himself. He grabbed his pair of room keys and sneaked from the kitchen and made his way to the door until –

"And where do you think you're going?" the three asked in unison.

"I just hope the power of sneaky helped Jake more than me," Danny mumbled, surrendering the keys to Tom.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

Jake shook his head and glanced at a truck nearby. _Black Cat _was printed on it, and the wild music of the party was blasting in his ears, even louder than the entrance. He turned and saw a man in a black leather jacket, holding a clipboard. That might be his ticket in there! He cleared his throat and tried to stir up a chat.

"Ahem. Uh… is this the masquerade bash?" he asked, pointing at the building. The man eyed him down immediately.

"Are you Ronald?"

"Okay… not exactly the question I was looking for, but I can manage," Jake thought.

"Uh… yeah! Yeah, th… that's me, Ronald," he stammered out. The man in leather groaned.

"You're late," he said in a simple and serious tone. "Dancers change in room 5."

"Okay!" he said happily. He finally smiled and looked around before going in.

"So go on," the man said. He was obviously very impatient.

"Up to room 5! Hope these clothes fit!" Jake shouted.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

"Okay, so we're clear on the rules, right?" Tom asked, finally having his temper on the right level. The three other boys nodded, holding up brooms, towels and tissues.

"I'm going to fix up the kitchen. Danny, you'd better fix the dining room properly or you're not going to have any bowling breaks tomorrow. Dougie, the room and cabinets are your responsibility." He stopped and turned to Harry with a smirk. "And you, Juddy Harold, have to clean the loo on your own."

Harry grimaced at him as Danny started laughing. "I hate you, Tom."

"Like I said in our home video, I hate drummers," he said jokingly. "Now get to work, people!"

Danny skipped cheerfully to the dining room, which was next to the kitchen. Tom kept his eye on Danny to make sure he was cleaning. He caught Danny slacking off after two minutes of work and had to tell him off. Dougie secretly stuffed messy clothes under Danny's and Harry's beds and planned to put all the leftover chips under Tom's. The three found Harry's yelps and complaints very funny.

"Why do I even have to clean it alone? And next time, flush!" shouted Harry. Danny snorted and wondered who the one who left the toilet without flushing was. He wiped the dining table and fixed the chairs before checking the kitchen again. Tom was scrubbing the sinks.

"Come on, stupid brown stain," mumbled Tom, scrubbing a very dark spot on the sink as hard as he could.

"Tom, why do you have to clean anyway? Aren't there people called servants? Or at least, people called housekeepers?" Dougie asked loudly from the bedroom.

"It's because you broke the cabinet and we had to pay the hotel! And to do them a favor after cleaning up on our crazy nights and parties, we have to clean!" replied Tom.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Dougie shouted.

"He loves making us work so he can have the TV all to himself when we get tired," said Harry.

"That's not true!"

The three boys continued their shouting session they left after Danny tried to sneak out of the room. The Bolton boy decided to take a snack from the small fridge and found a donut. A light tingling sensation tickled him in the head. "What was I supposed to remember again?" he asked in a thought. He shrugged and secretly ate the round delicacy and fixed up the fruit bowl on the table.

"Okay, I'm done!" Danny said. He jumped to the living room and grabbed the remote. Tom made sure he wasn't lying and congratulated him in a good job. Dougie went out of the bedroom and visited the fridge.

"My donut! Where is it?"

Danny ran behind the couch and remembered what Dougie told him the day before.

"_Danny, do not eat my donut, **EVER**, or you're going to hear from my lizards!" _

"So that's what I was supposed to remember! Oh no, Dougie's gonna feed me to Jerry and Zukie now!" he thought, scrunching even lower behind the couch. He could imagine the green reptiles crawling on his skin and chomping it off, not caring whether Danny's screaming or not. He shivered and pulled his head down to the floor.

"I didn't eat it," Tom said as he put on a pair of yellow gloves.

"Me neither! I had about five last night, it would take me a week before I eat another donut," replied Harry. Dougie frowned and looked around the room. Danny was nowhere in sight, and it meant one thing.

"**DANNY! I TOLD YOU NOT TO EAT MY DONUT, YOU IDIOT!**"

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

"Hey, is this room 5?" Jake asked. Five men dressed in similar smooth blue coats and black hats.

"You must be the late dancer! The guy downstairs was shouting about you," said one of them. Jake nervously nodded as a reply. The men gave him high-fives and shook his hand.

"Well, you better get dressed, man, because the party's gonna be a blast," one of them told him. He took the liberty to close the door for Jake.

"Wow, more luck," Jake thought positively. He shuffled around the room and found a rack with one pair of navy blue coat and pants similar to the five men he encountered a while ago. It was a perfect fit!

"Thank goodness luck was nice to me on this," Jake said. He smartened himself up in front of the mirror and grabbed a blue mask that only covered his eyes. With one last check on the mirror for rips on the pants or embarrassing stains, he left with a blink of an eye. He bumped several people along the way but didn't get any swears or punches from them. The music became even louder as he went closer to the door, and finally found the exit, the sound of the music turning softer and Damon Phillips' voice becoming louder.

People clapped and cheered as Mr. Phillips stood on stage with the microphone, dancers behind him. He pulled down his mask and checked his bag.

"As of right now, we've raised two-hundred and seventy thousand dollars!" exclaimed Mr. Phillips on stage. Jake didn't pay attention to the noise surrounding him as he pulled the CD from his small bag and examined the gigantic location. There were disco lights, sky dancers, and masked people in colorful outfits. Jake felt very new to the situation. He looked at the CD again and exhaled.

"This is for McFLY, this is for a better future. You can do it, Jake. Positive energy, positive results," he thought to himself.

Loud music filled his ears once more and Jake got distracted from his thoughts and finally noticed Damon Phillips was dancing. He decided to take a chance and dance his way to him. A loud beat and techno piano-like song blasted from the speakers and Jake nervously shook his body up the stairs.

"I stink at dancing! How am I gonna pull this off?" he asked himself.

**_One step right and one step left, dance_**

Another man in the same attire as he was tackled Jake and pulled him in front. Jake didn't even know what to do! "Hey! I… uh… no, no, no, eh, no!"

_**Move your body close to mine**  
**Feeling hot boy hold me tight**  
_

Jake scanned the crowd and noticed Mr. Phillips was leaving once again. What a horrible timing it is for him to dance! He pushed his way from dancers and other people, hoping to be able to reach the bottom of the stairs and talk to Mr. Phillips.

"Mr. Phillips, excuse me!" he shouted. A pair of hands gripped his arm and pulled him in front again.

**_This is where we're supposed to be  
Don't be shy come give it to me_**

"Oh… ngmm," he mumbled. The female dancer in a sequin blue dress in front of him scrunched down and danced. He was next! He felt his knees weakening as the girl moved to the side.

**_And, dance  
Said I don't wanna stop (oh baby baby)  
Make it hot_**

"Move it, you," the man behind him growled. He nervously moved his feet closer to the edge of the stage and did a simple dance, just moving his hands and legs close to his body. He was astonished by the number of people on the party. He expected it to be much, much less, but he never went to a huge record deal party in his life until now. After a few seconds, he went down the stairs and gleefully ran in search of Damon Phillips.

The thump of the drums in the song rhythmically affected Jake's pace as he ran, tossed, turned and swam across the crowd. Hearing Mr. Phillips' laugh, he found the man walking on a higher platform.

**_Don't be shy come give it to me  
And, dance  
Said I don't wanna stop (oh baby baby)  
Make it hot_**

He pushed the people blocking his way and found the stairs to the platform. A brunette wearing an eccentric red mask with big yellow eyelashes pushed him down.

"Hey, hey, the dancers are supposed to be in the dance floor," she said loudly. "The dance floor's that way."

Jake almost forgot how he was able to enter in the first place. He just had to go up there, or at least run from any accosting the brunette might give him.

"Uh, right sure, I j…"

**_Baby, I can't seem to take my eyes off you  
Hey, everything you do has got me hooked  
_**

Jake cut himself off unexpectedly. His eyes met a pair of white heels, and slowly moved upwards and finally saw who the girl was. She wore a creamy white dress lengthened just above her knees, and a matching hat with a net-like cover for the eyes, and feathers adorning it as well. She had a white thin necklace on and had dangly earrings that matched her dress perfectly. Her hair was twisted up in the back and curly locks of hair at the side of her face made her enchanting to the eyes of Jake. Her smile enticed him even more. She shined in his vision, but he couldn't tell if her hair color was brown or red.

"I was just about to ask this lovely lady to dance," he finished, grinning like a love struck boy as he gazed upon the girl's beauty.

"Ohoho!" the brunette said, grinning. A blonde girl with an even more eccentric dress and mask went beside the brunette, laughing and beaming at him.

**_Move your body close to mine  
Feeling hot boy hold me tight  
This is where we're supposed to be  
Don't be shy come give it to me_**

"Oh, sucking up to the boss, huh?" the girl asked. Jake grinned nervously. She was the boss?

"A beauty such as hers became the boss?" Jake asked himself. He expected the boss to be someone like Damon Phillips or Mac.

"The bo… sorry," he said. The girl shook her head, rejecting his offer. He almost felt downhearted, but the blonde in the floral dress jumped up and laughed.

"You should go dance, go dance with him!" she said.

"Come on, you've earned it! This party is amazing," said the brunette.

Jake felt himself sweating when the girl looked at him again and exhaled. "He's kinda cute!"

**_And, dance  
All night  
Said I don't wanna stop (oh baby baby)  
Make it hot_**

"You know, I will, I think I do deserve it anyway," the girl said finally. Jake sheepishly grinned and offered his hand. The girl took it and led him to the dance floor. She stood out among the rest, her white dress flowing in a lovely way to make him follow her. He bumped and tripped on the ground, but managed to keep up.

"Hey, watch it!"

The music changed again, and the girl was finally dancing on one spot. He nervously just swaggered in place, hands and fists hitting him in the back or shoulder from time to time. The girl smiled at him and revealed white teeth, making him even more entranced. He took her hand and her waist.

"I'm actually dancing with a girl!" Jake thought enthusiastically. "And a high-class one! And she's not pushing me away!"

He twirled her around as the bass speakers dramatically made them feel like they were in a huge concert. He held her close and smiled, breathing in her strawberry and vanilla scent. This was definitely better than his prom night.

**_Only this moment  
Holds us together  
Close to perfection  
Nothing else out there  
No one to guide us  
Lost in our senses  
Deep down inside I know our love will die_**

The girl beamed at him as she placed her hands on his shoulders, him on her waist. Their eyes met, but he couldn't make out the color of hers with the dimmed lights and the other swirling disco lights. Like a magnet pulling him close, her eyes mesmerized him enough that he didn't notice their faces moving closer to each other. Until finally, their lips met.

Jake lost all feeling as he pulled her closer. His heart skipped a beat as it realized his first kiss was more than just a little smack, and the girl didn't smack him either about it. They slowly danced holding each other very close, not caring if people become disturbed or even take a picture.

**_Stay or forever go  
Play or you'll never know  
What heaven decided  
You can't deny it's  
All you've been waiting for_**

As the last lyric ended, they pulled away at the same moment. He could see the girl's eyes pleading like his eyes did.

"I'm sorry," she said, nervously looking down.

"No, no, don't be," he told her, smiling. He wasn't slapped or rejected! "Don't be sorry! I… uh…"

He finally remembered the reason he was there at the first place, the reason why he wanted to go up the platform's stairs before he became spellbound with the girl. He finally saw Damon Phillips again, walking outside of the party.

"I have to go," he told her.

"What?" he heard the girl ask. His heart felt a strong tug. Was he actually getting lucky with a girl? He was horrible in romance, and yet, the high-ranking beauty who gave him his first kiss was implying she didn't want him to go.

"Err, uh, look, I have to take care of one thing but I promise I'll be right back! Ju… just stay where you are! Alright?"

It pained him a little bit to say goodbye to her, but he only had one week left, and he knew he had a big chance tonight. It was an odd feeling to feel down because of a girl he didn't know.

"Okay," the girl replied, and she raised her hand instead of waving. Jake nodded and ran. If he was able to give Mr. Phillips the CD sooner, he'd get to know the mysterious girl who hypnotized him tonight.

When he reached the exit, he found Damon Phillips right in front of him! He didn't stop and assure himself like other times, because time is running out.

"Mr. Phillips, excuse me…"

A large hand halted in front of his face. He forgot Mr. Phillips was talking in his earpiece.

"Uhm…"

His attempts to continue stopped as he heard a loud honk. He faced the road and saw a huge truck collide with a taxi cab, and it was heading straight for them! Jake didn't know what he was doing, but he pulled Mr. Phillips out of the way and waited for the pain to come. He felt the taxi hit his legs and he fell backwards. His body crashed onto glass and slid down the cab. But to his surprise, he felt fine.

Camera flashes obscured his view as screams and loud voices asking questions filled his ears.

"Somebody call 911!" shouted a man. Jake tried to stand up, but his knees felt slightly weak, but remained fine. He felt a pair of hands holding him up.

"Kid, are you alright?"

"I… uh, no, no, no, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm fine!" he replied. He felt even more astonished that he could see clearly without his glasses. Was he going to turn into Spiderman?

"Somebody get an ambulance!" It was obviously the taxi driver who was offering these, but Jake felt he was doing it wholeheartedly, rather than to avoid suing.

"No really, I'm fine, I'm not hurt!" he said happily, hopping in place for a few seconds. He supported his head and realized why he got in an odd accident in the first place.

"Mr. Phillips!"

He pushed through the paparazzi and reporters to reach the man he has been pursuing for weeks. Damon Phillips grabbed his arms and pulled himself up.

"Mr. Phillips, you okay? You alright?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm better than okay, man. I'm alive! You saved my life, Spiderman!" the executive replied.

"It was nothing, really," he said.

"No, it was something! There's gotta be a way to repay you, man," said Damon Phillips. Jake couldn't believe his ears.

"You know what? I'm just glad you're okay," he responded.

"Come on, man, there's gotta be something I can do for you," he insisted. Jake screamed internally. This was his big chance!

"Uhm, okay, uh," he searched for his pockets for the CD, wishing it didn't get squashed by the accident. "I don't want to put you out or anything, but…" He finally found the CD and raised it up. "…this band is exactly what you're looking for. They're the hottest band in New York City."

"It's done!" replied Damon immediately.

"Look, if you just… what did you say?" Jake couldn't believe his ears. He was actually getting Damon Phillips' attention to listen to McFLY. He wished it wasn't a dream that would end when the alarm clock rings.

"It's done! You bring… uhm, McFLY, right?" he asked.

"Yeah!"

"Bring McFLY by my office and we'll have a listen," finished Damon Phillips. Jake watched in astonishment as Damon Phillips walked away, holding and raising the CD in his hands.

"Okay! Okay!"

"Hey kid, what's your name?" asked Damon, turning around.

"Jake. Jake Hardin," he replied.

"Jake Hardin, Damon Phillips owes you big!" said the executive, beaming at him. "Yes, you hear! This kid saved my life!"

Jake noticed the two girls who sneered at him a while ago eyeing him down dreamily. He didn't care, he was too astonished with his accomplishment.

"Is it me or did I just get lucky?"

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

Danny whimpered softly as Dougie shouted at him about how many times he reminded him not to eat his donuts. Tom was too busy scanning the entire hotel room to tell Dougie off for overreacting over a donut. Harry found the entire thing very silly until Tom's cell phone rang.

"TOM! Your phone is ringing!"

The blonde ran immediately to the living room and snagged it. "It's Jake!"

Dougie abandoned his shouting and stuck his ear close to the phone like the other two. Tom pressed the answer button and gulped nervously.

"Hey Jake, what's up?" he asked. The boys heard loud music blasting from the other side.

"Tom, I got Damon Phillips the CD!" replied Jake. "Get ready for tomorrow! Practice! We have to impress him tomorrow!"

"Really?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah! I'm going to your hotel room after a few minutes, okay?"

"Why not now?" asked Danny.

"I… met this girl, and I have to talk to her before I leave," Jake replied from the other line. The boys started boy-giggling and teased Jake a little bit.

"Jakey, you Romeo!" shouted Harry teasingly.

"What's she like?" Dougie asked loudly. The music became louder and Jake's voice was fading slightly.

"She's pretty, but I need to know her name! I gotta go now, guys! I'm in the party now!"

"I wish I came!" Danny shouted, and the call ended.

JMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJMLJML

Jake placed his cell phone back to his pocket and tried to look for the girl in the creamy white dress. After five minutes, he didn't even catch a glimpse of her.

"Darn, I didn't even ask her name earlier! Stupid, that's just stupid, Jake! But I'm going to find her, right after McFLY gets their chance to shine, and I'll find her."

* * *

_I asked myself "Why didn't Jake ask for her name before he left?" when I watched the movie, so it resulted to the last line. Stay tuned for the next chapter, guys! More McFLY and humor, that's for sure. :) Please R&R, no flames or bashing hopefully. :)_


	7. Spiderman's a Manager

_A/N: Hiyadeehoe readers! :D Back with a new chapter again for this story. It's shorter than the 6th, but it's pretty long anyway. xD Thanks again to _**McSteph **_and _**CorruptedLies** _for reading and reviewing! They mean so much to me :D Reviews are like inspiration to continue and continuing this story makes me happy because it makes you guys happy hopefully :) Yeah, so this has a pretty long chapter name... meaningful anyway. xD Read away :D Jake's lucky here so it's much more calming than him having bad luck. xD BTW, I know I keep repeating 5 Colors in Her Hair on this fic, but I'm just following the story. I'm going to change some parts of it sooner (Maggie won't be the one who gives "I've Got You" to McFLY, etc.) but most parts will remain canon. But don't worry, I'm going to put their other songs here too, more than just what the movie gave. ;)_

Disclaimer: I don't own McFLY/The McFly boys and their songs, Just My Luck, and Spiderman.

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 7: Spiderman's The Name, Managing's the Game

Jake's head was evaded with heavy thoughts of happiness and confusion as he glimpsed upon the people and places passed by the taxi he was riding in. He couldn't believe how one night changed everything.

"Sir, are you feeling okay?" asked the taxi driver. Jake snapped out of his thoughts after a few minutes, noticing the cab remaining stationary for a few seconds.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine, thanks," he replied softly, still gazing the outside world through the cab window.

"Well, you don't seem like it. We're here, sir, and you haven't moved for minutes," the driver told him, chuckling afterwards. Jake bashfully paid the man and gave him a tip before heading upstairs. It was strange because the security guards didn't ask him for ID or roughened up on him.

"You're here to visit room 416?" asked the hotel manager. He nodded and waited for the harsh side-comment the manager gave him every time he would visit, but it never came.

"Okay sir, but remember the curfew. It's on midnight and we expect you to be out of there on the exact time," the manager said, beaming at him toothily. Jake shook his head and used the elevator and was very happy the glitch of the elevator getting stuck on the 2nd floor was gone. It was easier now that luck lightened up on him. But he asked himself if it would last long enough for the McFly boys to reach fame with his help.

He knocked on the boys' door once he hopped off the elevator and was astonished with the sparkling clean hotel room.

"What did you boys do here?" he asked, placing his backpack on the couch with neatly positioned and fluffed pillows. Danny took one of them and hugged it happily.

"Well, I decided that we should return the favor given by the housekeepers," Tom said, smiling at the outcome of the place. Harry rolled his eyes as he grabbed the remote from Dougie and switched the channel.

"I had to clean the bathroom all by myself! They owe me!" said the drummer through gritted teeth. Dougie groaned and tried to grab the remote back.

"Give me the remote! You watched a silly cricket match for thirty minutes! Can't I watch good old lizard documentaries now?" he asked angrily.

"It's not silly!"

"Doug, he didn't watch crickets," said Danny. "He watched a sport."

The rest of them stared at him and Danny remained clueless of what he did. Harry scowled at Danny, and Tom looked very abashed.

"Danny, you know the name of the sport, right?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, cricket. But he wasn't watching crickets. You know, the insects," Danny said again. Dougie snorted and walked out of the living room, and they knew why when Harry's face turned crimson red.

"Danny, you don't need to make side-comments about the insects!" he barked furiously. Dougie came back after that, carrying a large bottle of soda, three boxes of pizza and plastic cups.

"Thank you Dougie," Tom said, exhaling in relief when Harry's face calmed down and Danny's face stopped cringing. "So Jake, we're going to celebrate tonight since you were able to give Phillips the CD!"

Danny took the pleasure of pouring their Coca-Cola on the plastic cups and passed them around. Jake happily sipped his and felt the tasty carbonated drink flow down his throat. Dougie grabbed three slices of pizza at once.

"These are mine!" he said, staring at the pizzas like Gollum from Lord of the Rings did at the ring.

"Did you order beer, Harry?" asked Danny. The drummer shook his head and bit a slice of Pepperoni pizza.

"Damn it, Harry, why didn't you?" he asked.

"No need for language here!" Tom snarled. Jake thanked Dougie when the youngest boy resumed to the main conversation of the evening.

"So Jake, how was your evening?" he asked.

"And how did you get Phillips the CD?" added Tom.

"And who was the girl?" Harry asked, joining in. Jake chuckled when Danny asked an unknown question due to his mouth being stuffed with pizza.

"Well, it was an amazing evening!" he said, and he bit his pizza before continuing. "I had some trouble getting in until I was able to pass as a dancer," he started.

"Did you use the power of sneaky?" Danny finally questioned, before sipping a cup of soda once more. Jake softly chuckled as the Bolton boy hugged a pillow and continued eating his pizza, looking like an excited student who had no idea what was going to be lectured. Dougie and Harry looked more like bored students listening to a lecture, while Tom was the smart student who always paid attention.

"Yes, I did. The guy asked if I was Robert, some dancer who didn't come, and I said yes. Power of sneaky worked, Danny. Best advice you ever gave me," he said, winking at the Bolton boy. Danny gleefully cheered for himself.

"And then I was able to find him after I got in the male dancer suit. Lucky it was a perfect fit, but the sole of the shoe almost fell off. So I went outside and I can't believe that single party raised two-hundred and seventy thousand dollars, but it wasn't finished yet!"

"Did you dance?" asked Tom.

"With a girl?" added Harry. The other boys glared at him. "What? It's not my fault for asking. He said on the phone that he met a girl earlier, remember?"

"I'm getting there, guys," Jake answered with a small smile on his face. "Well, I had to go up on the stage to get Damon Phillips' attention, but he went down when the music started playing! And I had to dance. This guy kept on pulling me in front of him."

"He must be a bad dancer if he did that," Danny said. Dougie almost spat out his soda on Tom with that remark.

"Anyway, I did a little jig before I went down and he went up a platform. It was so frustrating since people kept bumping me! But when I was about to reach him, I saw her."

"What's the girl like?" Dougie asked. He smirked at Harry, who was about to ask the same question.

"She was beyond beautiful. I couldn't describe much, but she's…"

"Alluring?" asked Tom.

"Hypnotizing?" said Harry.

"A girl?" Danny cringed when Tom accidentally spat soda on Dougie and fell on the floor laughing. The youngest boy stormed out of the living room and came back with a box of tissues.

"Get some, because Tom might do it again," he said.

"She was all of those, actually." Jake almost snorted in his soda when he remembered what Danny said. "So I asked her to dance."

"How was it?" they asked in unison. Jake felt his throat clench up and his tongue twist. He couldn't possibly find the exact words to detail the most amazing part of the evening he experienced.

"I… well, she danced with me. It was so much better than my prom night! In prom, the girls dragged me by the feet to the dance floor. At least she grabbed my hand instead. She was so lovely; the way she danced was… I just can't find the words, really. But she was amazing, the dance was amazing, and the kiss…"

"YOU KISSED?" the boys exclaimed in unison. Danny clutched on the pillow very tightly with all the excitement. They abandoned their slices of pizza and soda cups as Jake gulped and started sweating with the boys eyeing him down.

"Err… yeah. Now that, I really can't believe that it happened. And she didn't kick me when we stopped. I thought my first kiss was going to come from a nerd or that the girl would slap me afterwards," he said. The boys hooted and wiggled their eyebrows at Jake.

"Uh… well, I had to leave her afterwards because I heard Damon Phillips again and I just had to give him the CD," he said, implying he didn't want to remember the kiss. He felt he was about to die in euphoria if not for them breaking their kiss, let alone remembering it.

"You stood her up? Just for Damon Phillips?" Danny asked.

"Danny, you know why he had to leave, right?" Tom asked the Bolton boy. Danny chuckled and replied, "Of course I do. I was just trying to be dramatic."

"Ugh, now you sound like you're watching one of the drama shows Tom blubbers about," Harry muttered.

"He went outside the party! I had to leave her, but I promised I'd go back for her."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Tom exclaimed. Danny snickered when the other two McFLY boys shot glare daggers at him.

"We don't need you to weep now, Tom. We aren't watching your cheesy drama shows right now, you know?" Harry said loudly. Tom grimaced at him.

"Anyway, since you boys kept interrupting me and bugging me about this, I went outside and I saved Damon Phillips from getting hit by a cab, but I got hit instead."

"Spiderman!" they exclaimed in unison. "You look like you didn't get hurt!"

"That's what he called me too, and that's the weirdest part, I didn't get hurt and I didn't feel hurt! And my eyesight strangely improved!"

"Yeah, you're the new Spiderman," Tom said jokingly.

"So he asked if he could do anything for me, and I finally told him to hear you guys out and give you guys a record deal! He said yes! Perfect ending, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, but what happened to your girl?" Dougie asked. The three looked as curious as he did. Jake didn't like their new interest on his love life.

"Okay fine, so I went back to ask for her name, but she was gone. I tried to find her, but she just vanished! I looked for her friends, but they were too busy to reply," he answered.

"Shoot! Your night could've been perfect if you guys really got to know each other," said Dougie.

"It reminds me of Cinderella," Tom said.

"No it doesn't! The girl didn't leave her slipper! She didn't leave any memento behind for Jake to use to find her, so it's not really Cinderella-like," Harry retorted.

"I beg to differ. She kissed Jake, and that's worth much more than a stupid glass slipper as a reminder," Danny remarked. Tom smiled smugly at Danny.

"Wow Danny, that's very smart of you!" he said cheerfully.

"Then how would he find her? Cinderella has the slipper that fits only her foot. What can a kiss do? Jake's not going to kiss every girl he passes, you know," Harry replied.

"Good point," Dougie said. Tom and Danny had to agree on that.

Jake secretly wished it would go like that. Cinderella or not, he would find the girl. He knows he will. His newfound luck sparked his confidence and it assured him he would find the lady in the creamy white dress that made him weak in the knees.

The next day, the boys and Jake excitedly rode in a taxi van that Jake easily hailed while walking on the sidewalk. The boys happily rode in the taxi van with their guitars on their side. Harry felt downhearted that he wasn't able to bring the McFLY drum set now that they were able to ride a bigger vehicle.

"C'mon, Harry, we do miss that drum set," Dougie said.

"Yeah, but it's a taxi van. We thought we'd be taking a taxi and stuffing our guitars in the trunk!" Danny added.

Harry sighed and took out his drumsticks from his pocket. "I guess you guys are right. But I hope to use my drum set soon!"

Tom nodded in agreement. "You'll be able to use it. I just wonder what's going on in Jake's noggin."

"What's a noggin?" Danny asked. Dougie and Harry smirked at each other, and then lightly hit Danny's head at the same time.

"The thing that we hit was a noggin," they replied in unison, laughing afterwards.

"That's mean!" Danny barked. "But I know what Tom means. Jake's been staring at the window for over 10 minutes! D'you think he's watching the pigeons?"

"You're not flying outside!" Dougie taunted. The three ended up chortling while the Bolton boy stared in disbelief.

"I'd rather be a flying monkey than a pigeon!"

Jake snapped out of his thoughts when a certain bass player dragged his feet off his seat. He hesitated to forgive Dougie, but after several explanations, he forgave him but kept in mind that the youngest boy was more mischievous than he had bargained for, and he looked very devious to begin with along with the other three.

They found themselves in front of the reddish-brown and gray building Jake visited a week ago. Tom and Danny happily carried their guitars in the place while Harry didn't bother to carry anything except his drumsticks when Dougie asked him to carry their bags.

"Don't be sour!" Tom snapped.

They entered the recording studio with some help from a brown-skinned woman in a light-looking top. She welcomed them and told the boys to set up their guitars in the recording area. Jake tried to enter the room, but was pushed back out by the woman.

"Let me in! I'm their manager, I have to help them set up!" he said loudly.

"Cool it, Spiderman," she said in a strange, drawling tone. Jake felt slightly uncomfortable being near her. And was he officially the new Spiderman?

"You have to wait here and greet Mr. Phillips, that's how you get on his good side," she continued. Jake nodded as he saw some people helping the boys set up the room. Harry looked very pleased as he sat on the drummer stool and tapped the cymbals. Danny smartened up himself by fixing up his dark-colored sleeved shirt. Dougie ran around the room a few times and tried to play with Tom's guitar amplifier but ended up told off by the eldest blonde.

"Don't you even dare, Doug," said Tom warningly. He felt several painful taps on his shoulder.

"DANNY! Why are you tapping my shoulder?"

"Because Damon Phillips is here," Danny replied softly. The Bolton boy shrank with the anger of Tom. The blonde looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry," he sheepishly said. Harry thumped the bass drum to get their attention.

"There's no time for apologies! Look at the soundproof window!" Harry said. The two glanced at it and saw Jake motioning his hands, telling them to wear their headphones and start playing. They did as told and looked at each other smugly.

"Danny, you know what to do," the three said.

"**1… 2… 3… 4!**"

**_She's got a lip-ring and five colors in her hair  
Not into fashion but I love the clothes she wears  
And her tattoo's always hidden by her underwear  
She don't ca-are!_**

Danny felt very new, looking at Jake outside the recording room as he strummed his golden-colored guitar. Tom nervously stared at the bored Damon Phillips sitting at the back of the room on a comfy couch, taking glances at Dougie sitting down and Harry playing the drums from time to time.

Outside, Jake felt his heart race when Damon stood up and glanced at his watch.

"Alright, listen up," he said.

Jake pressed the contact button to the other room and told them to keep quiet for a while. "Hey, guys…" Jake pointed at the executive and Tom nodded immediately. Danny made a broken guitar tune before stopping.

"Why'd we stop?" asked Dougie.

"Damon Phillips," Harry answered, taking off his headphones. They sighed in anxiety while Danny nibbled his nails for the same reason.

"Y'know, they're just a little…"

Mr. Phillips casually went out of the room, leaving a worried Jake. "… a little nervous." He looked around, hoping the man would come back, but Damon continued walking.

"Go with him," the woman said, giving a reassuring smile. The tousle-haired brunette nodded and raced out of the room, leaving the McFly boys feeling even more uneasy.

"Jake? Jake?" Tom asked, holding the microphone tightly.

"This is useless," Harry groaned. Danny strummed another broken tune in distortion to give out his anxiety.

Jake raced down the hallway and reached his target.

"I'm sorry if that's not exactly what you're looking for…"

He found the woman tailing them and Damon Phillips cutting him off.

"What do you like about them, Jake?" he asked.

"They have a first shake original sound, like really Beatles means Blink 182," he replied. Definitely, McFly was a unique band. He hoped it was enough for Damon to say yes to McFly. The band deserved it, after all.

Jake continued following him until the exit. He exhaled and had one last thing to say.

"I think that a band that's good will sell itself."

Damon Phillips laughed and stated he once wanted to be a band member but decided to become filthy rich. Applying that it was high-class humor, he laughed inwardly.

"Uh… okay. Well, thanks for the opportunity," he said, feeling downhearted. He knew he failed once again, not even getting McFLY to record one song. He turned around to go back in the building and tell the boys the bad news, but he stopped himself when Damon Phillips spoke.

"Look, kid, I believe in luck. So I'm sending out to a couple of radio stations to see how it plays. Meanwhile, you guys work on a follow-up, okay? You got two weeks."

Jake's mood lightened up. He didn't fail the boys! But was it a daydream? An illusion?

"So you're signing the band?"

The woman behind him scoffed at Jake's dumb questioning.

"I just spent 8 minutes with you. Why would I waste my time if I wasn't signing the band?"

Jake wanted to jump and squeal like an overexcited little girl. The band's going to be terribly happy when they hear it!

"Tiffany…" The woman behind them nodded. "Hmm?"

"I think Jake ditched us," groaned Dougie, plucking his bass's A string in boredom.

"No, he won't do that!" Tom reassured. "Right?"

"Oh, come off it! He ditched us, he's gone, and we also don't have a record deal," Harry said angrily.

The boys remained speechless after that, waiting for over a few minutes since Jake left. Few people passed their room and ignored them. Danny was getting restless as he walked in circles, nibbling his nails on his left hand. Dougie almost fell off his stool when he attempted to feign sleep. Tom nervously stared at the window, hoping Jake would come back. Harry secretly felt the same way Tom was feeling.

A few minutes later, the door burst open, and Jake came in with a wide grin on his face.

"Finally! You ditched us a while ago! No smiling because of that!" Danny barked.

"We were worried!" Harry shrieked. The boys faced him and snorted. It was Harry's first time to care for Jake openly. "That… we won't get a record deal!"

"Typical Harry," Tom scoffed. "But we were all worried, Jake. What happened?"

"You guys have to check out of your hotel," he replied, grinning. "You guys are signed! And we're going to have our own apartment!"

"Oh cool!" Dougie exclaimed. "But how are we going to get all our stuff to the apartment?"

"Did I mention we're going to have our personal limousine?"

The boys beamed at Jake. So far, they're enjoying their first month in America. After living in a five-star hotel together and having a problematic manager for a month, they finally believed they were about to start living a luxurious life in the country.

* * *

_Missing dialogue means one thing: I can't understand or hear them properly from the movie. xD So, please R&R, no flames or bashing hopefully. :)_


	8. Lavish Luxury Spells Trouble

_A/N: Heya guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story for months! It's been bugging me as well! Had a bit of writer's block because of school starting (8th grade rocks!) and all. We have an exam on Saturday which was supposed to be today but got postponed, and I had to update this! I miss writing JML-related stories featuring the wacky young McFly! x) Thanks again to _**McSteph **_and _**CorruptedLies **_for the reviews! :D Inspired me even more to write and continue this story! Here, we have McFly and Jake going to their new penthouse apartments. I had the idea that since the boys had their apartment across the hall of Jake's, they must have a luxurious apartment! So yeah, had to write. Ashley's coming closer, really, and so are more McFly silliness. :P Read away! _

Disclaimer: Definitely don't own Just My Luck or McFly. (BTW, anyone excited for "Above the Noise"? :D)

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 8: Lavish Luxuries Spell Trouble

Harry was in such a bright mood when they received the great news. The drummer decided to help his band mates fix up their guitars and bags before hopping in the long, black limousine parked in front of them when they left the building. They stared in astonishment and admired its length and the way it shined under the sunlight.

"It's perfect!" Danny exclaimed, looking at the exclusive vehicle lovingly. "I wonder if we could drive it."

The boys immediately glanced at each other with mischievous grins on their faces.

"**I WILL DRIVE IT FIRST! NO! I AM!**"

Danny snorted at the silliness of the situation when Harry started poking Dougie and Tom about being the first to drive it.

"I'm first since I'm the drummer and the best driver among us."

"I'm clearly the eldest, so I'm going to drive it first!" Tom retorted.

"Don't forget, you're clearly the fattest and probably won't fit the front seat!" Harry responded. Tom almost threw a punch on Harry's face if not for the guitar case he held. Dougie and Harry started snickering while Danny didn't have a clue of what happened.

"Uhh… does this mean I'm going to be the one who will drive it first?" he asked.

"**NO!**" the three screeched immediately.

"I just asked! No need to be so harsh," the Bolton boy said, and pouted in frustration. "I wish Jake finished that paper fixing so we could go to our apartment!"

"I think I'm going to leave the driving with you three, I'm just 18 and I don't want to come in between Tom and Harry's fight," said Dougie.

"I'm 19, I deserve to drive more than you do, but why don't you want me to drive?" Danny asked. Dougie, Tom, and Harry smirked at each other.

"Stop doing that! I know what you guys are thinking. I'm too stupid to drive, am I right?"

"No, not that. It's just you always honk the horn every five minutes whenever you drive," replied Tom. "And how many times does the one-way road cop talk to us in a week?"

"Fifteen, averagely, depending on how far and how slow Danny drives," Harry answered. Dougie snorted softly at Danny's expression.

"Fine, if I stop honking the horn, can I drive it?"

"Sure! As long as I'm first!" Tom and Harry exclaimed at the same time.

The two boys glared each other down while the younger boys just watched. Dougie leaned on the building wall while Danny sat the side of the stairs. It was to his relief Jake arrived and, to Tom's surprise and joy, brought five Starbucks coffees.

"Starbucks!" Tom said loudly. Jake simply nodded and gave Tom his preferred drink while he told the others to get what drink they want. They chugged down their caffeinated drinks as they entered the limo, the door held open just for them. Danny grinned and almost paid the man who opened the door.

"Danny, he doesn't need paying for opening the door! It's a part of his job!" Dougie said.

"But that was nice of him," the Bolton boy responded.

The McFly boys slouched and slumped down their seats in relaxation, still astonished by the gigantic space in front of them. After placing the guitar cases at the back seat, they stretched their legs and gazed at the television above them.

"Telly in the limo! I wish we had one of these long cars with TVs!" Danny exclaimed happily. "Where is the remote?"

"Bernie, there's a television at the back?" they heard Jake say. Their manager sat in the front seat, right beside the driver. Tom and Harry felt very jealous that they won't be able to drive unless Bernie vanishes.

"Of course. Mr. Phillips is very generous," replied the limo driver. Jake peeped on the boys behind and saw Danny on Tom and Harry's lap, almost falling off as he tried to get the remote from a powerful lizard lover.

"Dougie, just give him the stupid remote and get over it!" Harry shouted. Jake chuckled and returned to sitting properly, closing the small soundproof window behind him.

"Are they really that… kiddy?" Bernie asked as he drove to the left. Jake exhaled and smiled. "Yeah, they do get kind of childish, but in a good way. They're really brilliant musicians, and very young. It's expected, really. But the way they quarrel, well, it's very funny. You should see Tom and Harry compete with each other; they are vicious."

"Uh… who exactly is Tom there? I just know that the one with long straight hair is Harry."

"No, no, the one with long straight hair is Danny. He's like the most innocent one. Harry's the one holding the drumsticks. Tom's the blonde one, and Dougie's…"

"So let me get this straight, the one with brown straight hair is Danny, Tom's the chubby blonde, Harry's the one wearing a hat, and Dougie's the one with the hidden eye?" asked Bernie.

It was an odd way for Bernie to describe the boys physically, but he laughed at it anyway. He was just relieved that the woman making googly-eyes at him decided to change her outfit and just meet them at their new apartment. It was very scary being around her.

"So, where is the apartment?" he asked. "And can we pass that hotel where the boys' are staying and the Rock 'n' Bowl?"

"Ms. Tiffany told me to keep it a secret, sorry, but it's just here in New York City. She would meet you boys there or what?"

"Oh… she would meet us there," he replied, shuddering at the thought of seeing her again. He wasn't used to girls flirting with him. He didn't mind, but she looked like an over-flirt. And after all, he made a promise he would find the girl he kissed, and she was definitely not her.

When they finally reached their destination, Danny decided to pay Bernie secretly without showing his band mates, especially Dougie. He remembered the youngest boy's words –

"I thought I was stupid… but then I met Danny."

It sounded so funny and rude at the same time, but Danny came to appreciate being a simple-minded guitarist with a big heart. It just ticked him off sometimes that they took his simple-mindedness and turned it into the term stupidity.

"You don't have to pay me, Mr. Jones," said Bernie. It was to Danny's relief that the other three were too amazed by the height and beauty of the building to notice him.

"I want to!" he said, beaming. He had no idea why, but he felt the need to become very generous to everyone.

"Danny, what are you doing? We're gonna go in now!" shouted Tom from behind him. Danny rummaged his pockets until he found a five dollar bill and handed it to Bernie. Tom rolled his eyes and grabbed Danny by the arm.

"I won't tell Dougie what you did because I think that's nice to be generous, but you better walk faster," Tom said, and he pushed Danny through the revolving doors.

When they entered, the four boys felt their jaws drop in anticipation. The golden, tiled floors and bright lights occupied their thoughts and vision too much that they fell over the lobby's carpet and bumped the indoor embossed column supports. Danny screamed when they realized they forgot the guitar cases. While Dougie found it funny and while Harry flinched in horror, Tom angrily told him that Bernie would take their guitars up.

"You should've listened! We told you we have assistance!" Tom screeched, garnering the attention of many.

"Tom, shut up," Harry grunted softly through gritted teeth.

"NO! If you stopped trying to steal the remote from Dougie, then I wouldn't be shouting at you! And you, Dougie, you should've given him the remote! Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"Because you sound like a maniac," Dougie snorted. "You know Danny's like that, get a grip, Tom. You're just jealous because you're the one who wanted the remote for evil use!"

Tom rolled his eyes and yawned calmly. "Let's just forget this. I just want to sleep!"

"Where are we gonna go now?" asked Dougie, searching for a missing Jake. Danny grinned from ear to ear.

"We're gonna go and ride the elevator!" he cheered childishly.

The two looked at him, Tom not bothering to anymore as he shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe Jake left us!"

"Actually, I'm right here! I watched you guys… shout," said a voice behind them. They turned around, spotting Jake sitting on one of the comfiest looking couches they've ever seen. And hearing a squeak, they found Bernie pushing a bellhop luggage cart carrying their guitars.

"Well… where are we going then?" asked Harry impatiently, taking out his drumsticks from his pockets. After a second, he started tapping the column next to him, much to the annoyance of Tom. But as much as the blonde wanted to scold the drummer to stop, he halted himself and decided to stop having a hot head over his sleepiness.

"Honestly, I don't know. I've been waiting for that woman," replied Jake simply. He tapped his fingers as the boys whistled and swayed uncomfortably in place, standing. For a while, they stayed still, waiting for Jake to jump up and bring them to their apartment. But Jake just sat there, looking as impatient as them. But suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and found himself staring at Tiffany.

"I've been waiting for you to call!" she told him. Jake had to explain that he doesn't have her number and had no idea he was supposed to call her. Tiffany forced that they clearly knew they were staying in the penthouse suite due to the commands of Mr. Phillips. The McFly boys butted in the nonsensical conversation through hilarious complaints.

"Can you just bring us to our apartments?" Dougie snapped.

Looking as fierce as ever, Dougie managed to make the woman's eyes widened and she brought them to the elevator, telling Bernie to follow using the other elevator. She was about to tell the McFly boys to go with Bernie to spend some alone time with Jake in the elevator, but he insisted to avoid her flirting with him.

"Thank you," Jake whispered to the boys when they boarded the elevator with him.

"No problem," Danny whispered back.

"She's too seductive towards you, it's gross," Harry added softly, successfully hiding what he said to the ears of Tiffany.

Danny was very enchanted with the elevator. He kept saying comments about the flooring, the sweet, stainless silver doors, the sturdy wooden handles, and most of all, the shiny buttons.

"I could just press them all!" the Bolton boy exclaimed happily, staring in marvel at the darkened numbers on the floor buttons.

"Don't you dare!" Dougie told him. "The rest of us here want to get up there the fastest we can!"

"But can we have elevator racing soon?" Danny asked, looking at the boys with pleading eyes. Immediately, his band mates grinned as cheekily as he did.

"YEAH! Great idea!" Harry said, doing a little victory dance.

"And no one to stop us, imagine that!" Tom added.

Before Jake retorted, there was a melodic DING sound and the elevator door opened gracefully. Danny stared in awe as it slowly opened. Tom had to push Danny out of the door and out of the weirdest reason to be in a trance. Tiffany brought them to the windowed hall with two doors close to it. She made the boys enter the door to the left and told Jake to enter the right. When Jake entered, he did the silliest thing an overwhelmed person would do: faint.

The boys, on the other hand, didn't. Their jaws dropped at the beauty of their new room. Checking out from a 5-star hotel was definitely worth it. It was just like their hotel room, except it was more. It was definitely more amazing. The walls were very white, and had a giant guitar mural at the living room. The living room had four long couches with many pillows and a plasma television surrounded by speakers. Tiffany was right behind them.

"Like it?" she asked.

"Of course!" they exclaimed in unison. Tiffany chuckled and walked towards the living room.

"Here, we have the living room, also known as the lounging room. Pretty fantastic, isn't it? A plasma television and a sound system, DVD players, even a PlayStation 2! There are loads of DVDs and games at that CD rack. The couches are very soft and made for napping and jumping on," she started. The boys' eyes widened with excitement as they went to the dining room and kitchen.

"Here's the kitchen. Oven, stove, microwave, blender, all you can ask for! The cupboards and refrigerators are stocked, so you guys won't have to buy groceries tonight. The cooking counter serves as your dining table, but there's another dining table if you want to eat fancily."

"Oh joy!" Dougie screeched jovially.

Then, Tiffany brought them to the toilets and bathrooms. The boys happily thought that they won't be having a problem with bathroom hoggers anymore. There was a washing machine and a dryer for clothes, making them even happier. "Now we just need to schedule who will iron and fold the clothes!" Tom remarked.

There were four rooms, each similar to one another. Danny decided he would fill up his room with lots of posters of Bruce Springsteen and guitars. Tom wanted his room to be a serene one. Harry whined about leaving his drum set at the Rock 'n' Bowl right after they checked out of the hotel, and wished that he could have a giant mural of drums in his room. Dougie shouted how badly he wanted to mess up his room, and make the others messier. Each of their bedrooms had a king-sized bed and a working table, and the walls were painted blue.

"I'm gonna paint mine green! Lizard green!" Dougie said. "I really wish Jerry and Zukie were here. I'm going to ask Fletch to deliver them."

"I want mine black," Harry said.

But there was one room they haven't touched until Danny asked. His curiosity never failed them. When Tiffany gave them a mysterious smile, she opened the door and revealed a music room. There were amplifiers and speakers, mixers and everything. Only the musical instruments remained missing.

"YES! I can finally put my drum set somewhere!" yelled the drummer happily. Tiffany left after telling the boys to stay put in their new apartment.

"Enjoy! Well, I have to visit your manager. Is he single, by the way?"

"Looking for a lady," Danny replied.

"Really? Well then…" She left the room in a snap.

"She didn't get what you meant, Dan," Tom stated. "She thought you meant Jake was looking for a lady. But he's really looking for that girl he kissed. Hmm… still looking for a lady, but you know what I mean!"

Little did they know that when Jake woke up from fainting at his apartment, Tiffany started flirting with him and even asked him out on a date.

At early afternoon, the boys were enchanted by their new place. Dougie and Harry snickered as they entered the living room. Tom jumped on the couch and fell asleep in seconds. Danny secretly crept to the kitchen and checked out if there were any chocolates in the refrigerator. After opening it, a loud blast of music filled his ears, surprising him in the process. He almost tumbled down the floor. And the next thing he heard was Tom's loud shout and lecture about waking the sleeping unknowingly.

"Next time, check if someone's asleep!"

"Go to sleep in your room!" he heard Harry retort.

"FINE!"

And as Tom walked, he had a feeling that the four of them would be having straight days of band fun, right after he takes a nap.

* * *

_Sleepy Tom. xD T'was fun writing this! Hopefully after prelims, I'm going to continue writing and all! :D And I have a new fic of McFly and an idea of a sequel of this fic! Please R&R, no flames hopefully. :)_


	9. Elevator Wars

**A/N: **_Okay. I'm terribly sorry for not updating this story for about a year! I love this story so much and I haven't forgotten it. I just had a hectic school year and I had less time to work on my stories. :( I'm so sorry, really. Thanks to _**AngelicSpice **_for reviewing! And of course to _**McSteph**_! Thank you so much, guys! :D I hope you like this chapter. It's a bit short and definitely not in the movie. I just wanted some McFly cuteness before I enter Ashley. I promise I'll work on this story and finish it. It's summer vacation here anyway! So I really have a lot of time to work on this fic! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own McFly and Just My Luck. If I did, then McFly would have written a song entitled "Jamie" and would have done more movies and meet & greets for all fans!

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 9: Elevator Wars

"DANNY! You're gonna get a fist for dinner!"

Danny cringed at Harry's warning as he locked the bathroom door. Was it his fault the food in the refrigerator were so delicious and irresistible? Thinking of ways to avoid having a fist as his last meal for the day, he burped which emitted a stench of spicy chicken wings, and walked in circles, staring at the mirror above the sink.

Even if he looked very handsome, he couldn't resist shrieking when he looked at the mirror. Then he heard Harry's fists pounding on the bathroom door.

"DANNY! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"TOM! HELP ME!" he screamed. It was the first thing that rolled off his tongue.

"HARRY, YOU GIT! Stop invading Danny's privacy and refill the refrigerator!"

For once, Danny felt relieved Tom was screaming.

"It wasn't me who finished the food! It was Danny!"

"You're just trying to pass the blame! I saw you holding the door of the fridge!"

"SHUT UP, EVERYONE!" they heard Dougie yell. Danny exhaled happily as the attention went away from him. He slowly unlocked the bathroom door, and felt a pair of angry eyes fall on him.

"TOM!" Danny shrieked. He shut his eyes immediately when he felt Harry clutch on his shirt, then was forced to open them as he and Harry were pulled. He opened his eyes and saw Tom behind Harry, pulling his blonde and brown hair. While the drummer started complaining, Danny managed to remove Harry's hands on his shirt and ran outside.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Danny, before leaving the main door of their suite, saw an angry Dougie scratching his head. He whimpered and ran out immediately.

He took a short pause and scanned the hallway of their new American abode. The cream colored walls had hung pictures of wondrous imagery as covers to add more decoration for every resident to enjoy. He spotted Jake's suite door was closed, along with the rest of the mahogany doors around. He heard a loud thump behind him.

"TOM! LET ME GO!" Harry yelled. It was obvious Tom was putting up a very tough fight. "DOUGIE! NOT YOU TOO!"

It was a matter of seconds before Danny realized he really had to escape. Harry was the toughest among them.

_DING!_

A young couple emerged from the large elevator Danny was in front of. The Bolton boy ran in and shoved them out, leaving them with curious faces. They shrugged until the door in front of them slammed open with three boys wrestling each other.

"DANNY!"

Danny immediately pressed the close button of the elevator and stuck his tongue out at Harry mockingly.

_DING!_

Harry's fury intensified when the elevator started moving to the lower levels of the condominium. He pushed Tom against the wall and Dougie on the floor to run towards the second elevator. He thought of revenge as the melodic ding of the elevator echoed in his ears and the sound of closing doors followed.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"You get back here!" Tom shouted. He tried to pull Harry back but the drummer ran to the next elevator and quickly shut it.

"My goodness, we should get them," Dougie said, sitting up. "I'm tired of their shenanigans today. I haven't even done anything as devious as they did! This is just wrong! I should be the messy one today!"

"Don't try to be a nuisance," Tom snapped. "We already have two of us playing with the elevators. I bet the manager of this place is gonna kill us if one of them breaks an elevator..."

The blonde cringed and realized the consequences.

"We have to get them!"

Meanwhile, Danny tapped his right foot to the beat of the elevator music, hiding his worry inside. He knew Harry was deadly when furious. He hoped Tom and Dougie were strong enough to contain him.

"Super Danny needs a break too," he thought to himself. "Hey! This can be like a super hero thing! I'm Super Danny and Harry could be Evil Drummer! My super power is my super greatness and intelligence! And Harry's powers would be his crankiness and his super drumming skills! Then he'll be my arch-enemy and now he wants to kill me!"

At first he was delighted at his imagination, until he finally realized what the last words meant. "Oh. I don't want to be killed by Evil Drummer!"

__

"But… but… there are two elevators," Dougie said. "We can't use the elevators. Calculating Danny's stupidity and Harry's competitiveness, they won't let go of the elevators."

"But I don't want to use the stairs! It's been a long day!" Tom exclaimed like a child. Dougie rolled his eyes and asked himself why he became the mature one in this situation.

__

"I'm gonna get that Bolton bloke if it's the last thing I'll do," Harry thought fiercely as he observed the floor indicator at the top of the elevator doors.

"3… 2... 1…"

_DING!_

Harry jumped out of the elevator like how a secret agent usually does in the movies. He instantly spotted Danny across the hallway.

"AHA!" he shouted.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEK! NO! Evil Drummer is here! He'll use his evil powers to destroy me!" Danny simpered, clutching the glossy curtains. Harry raised his eyebrow while charging at their band's guitarist.

"That's an insult, Danny! You're the evil one! You framed me!" Harry snarled. Several guests stared at them. A little boy sat on the elegant couch just to watch the scenario.

"No! I mean you're Evil Drummer! My arch-enemy! I'm Super Danny, remember?" Danny said, looking for an escape.

Harry paused to think. "What are you talking about?"

"Oops. It was my imagination…" Danny said. He then realized Harry stopped charging at him, and he ran straight back into the elevator Harry exited.

"NO! COME BACK HERE!"

Danny laughed and instantly pressed every button of the elevator, waiting for Harry to charge at him again. Harry pondered on why Danny would wait for him, but he took advantage of it.

"Got you now!" he exclaimed, running faster. He entered the elevator and collided with the elevator wall. Danny hopped off the elevator and waved childishly at Harry.

"See you in 10 minutes!" he teased. Harry fixed himself up and saw every button for the floors blinking yellow. "You tricked me! Come back here you…"

His voice trailed off and the elevator doors closed, bringing Harry to venture all the floors of their hotel.

Tom and Dougie, meanwhile, panted as they went through the door leading to the hotel lobby. They expected Harry and Danny to be wrestling and rolling on the floor, breaking some expensive glassware or some sort of fancy vase, but no. They reached Danny in front of the elevator with his hands up.

"Super Danny did a good job!"

Dougie snorted and fell on the floor, laughing hard. "Super Danny? What's that?" Tom asked, watching the youngest boy in their band cry out of laughter.

"It's me! It's my super hero identity! You can be my sidekick! You can be… Cat Man! And Dougie will be Lizard Wizard!" Danny exclaimed. Tom flinched.

"Danny… I think you need to stop eating chocolate for a while," Tom said cautiously.

"It's not the chocolate! It's reality!" he exclaimed.

"Oh man! This is gold!" Dougie said, chortling afterwards. He did his best to stand up after laughing at Danny's hilarious imagination exclamations. "And I would love to be Lizard Wizard!"

But the sound of the elevator opening made Dougie jump. Tom stared, wide-eyed at Danny.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked. He felt a pair of hands grip his shoulders and soon enough, Harry was back and shaking Danny crazily.

"You git! You made me go through all those floors! If that old man didn't press the elevator to take a ride, I would be stuck in there with that stupid elevator music!"

Tom and Dougie watched the two wrestle, as they expected. They casually sat down on one of the longer couches and stood as spectators of their little quarrel.

"Uh, guys, what's going on?"

"EEEP!" Tom squeaked. He and Dougie turned and saw Jake in a new, neat jacket and a curious expression patched on his face.

"They had elevator wars," Dougie answered. His tone was if it was just normal to see them fight in a high-class condominium.

"Well, make sure they don't break anything. I'm going out before that crazy Tiffany lady insists we have a date," Jake said.

"Look for your lady while at it too!" Harry shouted while tackling Danny.

Jake smiled. The thought of seeing the girl he kissed made him walk outside their new place with a beat of happiness in each step.

* * *

_A/N: Okay. So "Super Danny" is kind of Danny's imagination about him being a super hero in this chapter. :)) I just thought it would be cute to put... Anyways! Please R&R, no flames hopefully! :) And I promise Ashley's gonna be in the next chapter. I so want to finish this story so I can write its sequel!_


	10. Unluckily Lucky

**A/N: **_Haha, after a month, then I decide to update this. I'm sorry once again. I temporarily had writer's block due to getting addicted to an anime/manga series and that I wanted to write more McFly, but the main objective of this chapter is to bring in Ashley. I'll try to update this soon though! I'm getting the gist of it again! Thanks to _**McSteph **_and _**FlyingZoe **_for the reviews! :D It means a lot, really! Now here's the next chapter. More McFly silliness, but more Jake screentime with the entrance of the leading lady of his life. XD Well, read away! I guarantee it's good! It's one of my fave chapters, after all. :D Oh, and I'm very happy for the newly engaged couple, Tom and Giovanna! Best wishes to them!_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Just My Luck or the McFLY boys._

* * *

** Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 10: Unluckily Lucky

...

A few days passed with more silly antics in the McFly boys' penthouse and more recording sessions in Mr. Phillip's recording studio. They had very progressive days so far, leading to them having lots of break time and bonding time together. Jake insisted they return to the Rock n Bowl at least twice a day to eat there, even though Dougie and Danny had plans to have meals in Starbucks and KFC.

"This is great. We'll have daily meals in Rock n Bowl AND we keep recording songs we recorded before! How about we record the songs we have on our upcoming album?" Dougie asked, staring at the waiters of the Rock n Bowl serve them varied flavors of juices.

"I call the orange juice!" Danny exclaimed, grabbing the tallest glass.

"Well, we're supposed to promote our first two albums," Tom replied simply, taking the lemonade glass. "So it's more of a collaboration album."

"But we're still recording our old songs. Can't we just give them the tracks to make it easier? I want more free time here," Dougie said.

"We will get our free time, eventually," Harry said, sipping his pineapple juice. "Hey, at least we're getting fame here in America too! But I really miss London."

"I miss Bolton," Danny simpered.

"Hey, where's Jake? I thought we were supposed to eat together today," Harry added. They looked at each other.

"If he ate somewhere else, I'm gonna kick 'im," Dougie snarled.

"Oh… oops… I forgot… Jake texted me and…" Danny's voice trailed off as he handed Tom his phone.

"Let me see this…"

_Hey guys! Meet me at the bistro below our penthouse, my treat. :)_

Dougie grabbed the phone out of Tom's hand and glared at Danny. "You forgot? Great! Now I had juice instead of a full balanced meal! Thanks, Danny!"

"But… but… we can still go there!" Danny exclaimed. Harry snorted.

"Yeah, but we still used up some of our money for juice," Dougie said. "I wanted to be treated today."

"Well, let's go! Before it's too late!" Harry proclaimed. The boys grabbed their wallets and small bags, checked for any special snacks they could order, and left.

"It's been 40 minutes and they're not yet here… oh well, I guess they have other plans. But I think I should've texted Tom instead…" Jake thought.

He sat at the little but fancy bistro below their apartment, having a simple meal of French Fries, a chicken burger, and two different sandwiches, along with soda. The blonde female handed him the daily newspaper only given to those who gave tips.

"Oh my, McFly on the music section!" he thought happily. He continued reading as he slowly finished all the fries and burger or his plate. He devoured the hot dog sandwich and continued scanning the updates their country has for the day.

"What can I get you?"

Jake's attention turned to the bald manager of the little bistro with a tight accent. He stood in front of a woman with red hair and… unruly clothing. Jake couldn't help but examine the situation.

"Can I just have a glass of water?" the girl asked. The bald man shook his head, his double chin wobbling as he did.

"No buy, no sit, see?" the manager replied. Jake stared and snorted as he stopped reading the Art section of the newspaper.

"What grammar," he thought. The manager pointed at a sign on a nearby wall. A red sign had the exact words printed on it. And a smaller one was pasted above, saying, "NO BUY, NO RESTROOM."

"Can I use the bathroom?" the girl asked. Jake almost choked on his soda.

"No buy, no bathroom!" the bald manager said, his voice raising.

"Okay, right, fine, I'm leaving," the redhead said. She gathered her tiny pink bag and stood up, looking ready to leave the place. She paused and started saying silly things about having no days of misfortune until now. Jake continued watching her while wrapping one of the sandwiches he ordered in tissue paper. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt captivated about the girl.

"Man, that looks good. Are you done with that?" she asked. Jake looked at her and saw the girl staring at one of the plates of another customer. With the look of her clothes, she definitely had some problems. She dismissed eating them at first after the customer offered, but she gave in and took some bacon.

"Oh my God, I'm like a coyote!" She dropped a salt shaker and groaned.

"That's not good," Jake thought. "Oh, not the salt."

As he predicted, she would try to shake salt over her left shoulder. She didn't notice the manager turn up behind her, and she ended up throwing salt in his eyes.

"Oh no! It was an accident! I'm sorry!"

Jake, having placed his wallet in his pocket, took the wrapped sandwich and leapt off his seat. "Miss, I think it's time to go now." The woman nodded and apologized as she followed Jake outside the door. They continued walking until they reached the pedestrian lane, where they broke the silence that stood in between them.

"I think we're clear," he said.

"Thanks for that," she told him. "I'm sorry."

"I couldn't help but overhear that you're, uh…"

"Oh, meltdown?" she asked. Since she did say things that sounded delusional, he had to agree.

"Yeah. Broke, jobless, and I just ate a…" Jake didn't understand the seemingly foreign word she remarked after that.

"W… what?" he asked.

"It's bacon. I thought it sounded better in French," she replied. She was right, but he wasn't used to listening to French or other languages that needed intense study.

"Well, I thought you were a little hungry so I took this and…" He handed her the sandwich he wrapped in the little bistro. "Ham rye, extra mustard." The girl looked at him with awe and took it.

"Yes! Thank you," she said with happiness in her tone. "Thanks! Nice to meet you. Well, I'm gonna…" She pointed at the left and went in the park. Jake nodded… but he felt the urge to talk to her again. He saw her sitting on a bench, eating the sandwich he made.

"Look, I know a job, if you're looking for one," he offered.

"Really? What's the scam?" she asked.

"No scam," he replied. Was it really that strange to offer a job nowadays without people thinking it's a setup?

"Well, do you want me to join your religion or something?" she added. Jake laughed – maybe it's a bit silly for him to be offering something at a time like this.

"No, no religion stuff," he told her. "It's just a job. Well, a bad job, probably pays for how many hours."

"You still haven't answered my question. What's the scam?" she repeated.

Jake exhaled. "Let me just say that I know what it feels to be… SOL," he answered.

"SOL?"

"Shipped out of luck."

"What makes you think I'm SOL? Just because I spilled the salt back there?" she asked.

Jake looked at the sign on the bench behind her. "Wet Paint" was written on it. He pointed at it. "Uh... yeah." She checked it and groaned. Her jacket looked messier than ever.

"Look, where you are right now, I've been there. I've been there, I've lived there… I was kind of the mayor of there," he said. A humorous expression lit up on her face. He stood up and stretched out his hand.

"I'm Jake."

"Ashley," she replied, taking his hand and shaking it. He pulled her up and off the painted bench, making a squishing sound. "Oh my gosh."

"It looks great on you," he said, hoping it would lift her spirits for a bit. But he was honest; it looked good on her no matter how dirty it looked.

"To be honest, I'm not dressed for a job interview right now," she told him. By the look of her clothes, she definitely wasn't.

"For this one, I think it would be fine," he reassured her. She agreed to check it out eventually.

"Why are you so nice?" she asked.

"Look, I mean, shipped out of luck? That's my thing," he replied. He knew what she was feeling and he had to help a fellow SOL in his opinion. And sadly, he wasn't SOL at the moment, which made him feel unluckily lucky for such an odd reason. Luck was being good to him, but he didn't understand why he didn't enjoy having it when he's around Ashley.

* * *

_ Well, that was fun to write. Next chapter coming up soon with more McFly silliness! Please R&R, no flames hopefully! _:)


	11. Unconsciously Falling

**A/N: **_Hey guys! Another chapter for Luck, Love and Life! I really missed writing for this story, so I watched the movie again for inspiration. To be honest, I prefer writing McFly moments but since Ashley's in the scene, the McFly moments are cut shorter and I have to think hard on writing Jake/Ashley moments. I find it hard... XD because I was used to writing the McFly boys a lot in previous chapters. But ah well, I'm going to finish this story in one way or another. Thanks to _**McSteph **_for reviewing again! :D Thank you very much for supporting this story since its first chapter! I love writing Danny's silliness! Thanks again! Now read away! I'm going to write the next chapter pronto - the part where they sing "Too Close for Comfort" in the studio and the little washing machine accident in Jake's apartment. :D_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Just My Luck or the McFly boys._

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 11: Unconsciously Falling

...

After having Ashley agree to join him to the Rock 'n' Bowl for her to have a job, he received less of what he expected. At first, he thought he would be able to convince Mac to hire her as a waitress, but suddenly he turned it down. He didn't know if it was his bad luck that caused it… or Ashley's.

"But Mac, c'mon, she needs a job, and I think she's going to do fine," he insisted. Mac shook his head.

"Don't be silly. We have enough waitresses as it is. The only job available is your old one!" he snapped.

"What? No way. She doesn't deserve such a crummy job," he told him.

"Yeah, but you took it."

"I'm a guy, it's fine if I took it. But her?" he asked.

"Jake, you do know this conversation isn't going anywhere right? Either she gets your old job or nothing," Mac said.

"But she's great!"

"You barely know her. It's either that or nothing!"

"Okay, okay then. You won't be sorry," he said, giving up. He walked towards the red-haired girl who was clearly waiting for the unwanted news.

"I didn't get it," she said in a hopeless tone. Jake felt his heartstrings tug.

"No, no, no," he told her immediately. "It's not that!"

Their eyes met and Jake felt the need to help her more. He really wanted to aid her, but he didn't know the reasons why.

"You can have a job, but it's my old job."

"So?" she asked. Jake was taken aback. If she only knew how horrid his old job was, especially that she was a girl. Girls rarely apply for his job, and it was clear why.

"Y… you see, I hope he'd hire you as a waitress or something. My old gig was kind of… uh… janitor, food delivery person, toilet attendant," he replied, hoping she wouldn't agree to it. Indeed, it was kind of a jack-of-all-trades kind of job, and he knew Ashley needed one with more class and simplicity.

"I'll take it!" she said with a grin. Jake exhaled.

"I just hope she can take the situations," he thought to himself.

...

"Jake! Where have you been?" Harry asked as he entered Jake's suite in their exclusive penthouse. The boys were holding Danny's arms like a pack of policemen holding a rabid prisoner.

"Actually, I have to ask that to you four… and why is Danny your captive?" he asked. The boys glared at the brunette Bolton boy, who was chuckling awkwardly.

"Oh… I knew I should've texted Tom instead," Jake remarked.

"Yeah, you should've," Dougie snarled. "We had lunch two times! Thanks a lot, Danny."

"Hey! At least we ate at that bistro!" Danny retorted.

"Yeah, but we paid! Jake was supposed to treat us!" Harry snapped. Tom just rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, they get a little childish at times," he said to Jake.

"No, we don't!" the other three screeched.

"Hey! Hey! If it will make you guys stop fighting, I'm going to treat you guys tomorrow, alright?" he said. The four boys instantly jumped for joy.

Danny, surprisingly, stopped first. "You haven't answered our question. Where have you been?"

Jake smiled and remembered his encounter with someone he felt a bond with due to their "lucky" streak.

"Wait, what time did you arrive at the bistro?" he asked.

"About 1:30… why?" Tom asked.

"I just left the bistro at that time," he answered. Dougie and Harry shot death glares at Danny once again before listening to Jake's story.

"Well… I just… helped someone get a job, my old one," he replied. He didn't want to let out all the details to them despite his joy. He knew he was going to end up flustered and being teased by the boys. And after all, the boys knew he was still looking for the girl that gave him his first kiss and enchanted him in the party. Somehow, the feeling he gained at the party returned unconsciously when his eyes first met Ashley's green ones.

"Oh? That bloke must thank you," Danny said.

"I don't think bloke is the right term," Jake said. The boys started laughing.

"Really, Jake?" Dougie asked, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I mean, there is no way a girl would apply for your old job!" Harry exclaimed.

Jake shook his head. If they only knew.

...

Recording sessions filled the schedule of the boys after the following days. They recorded some of their old songs once more for their new compilation album. Yet, they had no idea what to name it yet.

"Maybe we should name it "Unsaid Things" so it'll be new!" Danny exclaimed.

"Dan, that would make the album sound like a single for Unsaid Things," Tom replied, referring to one of their old songs.

"How about, Compiled Awesomeness?" Harry asked.

"That's worse than Danny's idea," Tom said teasingly.

"I know! I know!" Dougie exclaimed." Lizard Wizard!"

The boys stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I think Danny's the smartest among you three today," Tom said. Dougie and Harry kicked him as Danny rested himself on the couch of their suite. They decided to take a one-day break after all the recording sessions they have done. After practicing a few songs they decided to put on their upcoming album, they rested themselves and decided to think of a name for their compilation album rather than the new one.

"Can't we just record our new album? I can't wait to play Transylvania!" Dougie whined.

"Doug, you know we have to record that back home, right?" Tom asked. "Fletch just sent us here to promote our old albums, and Jake gave us a good idea to compile both of them into one!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But I just can't wait to slap the bass with our new songs!" Dougie said.

"As if you're the only one who can't wait," Danny said. "I want to start recording the songs too!"

"Let's stop talking about these kinds of stuff! We have a free day! We can do whatever we want! Let's do something good!" Harry said, breaking the boring spirit they were bonded in since the wee hours of the morning when they woke up.

The four boys looked at each other with devious glee written on their faces.

"Elevator Wars or Playstation || battle?" Dougie asked.

"Playstation!" the other three screeched.

"I call Crash Bandicoot!" Harry said. "What? I love playing the good guy in racing games!"

"Fine, but I won't use Neo Cortex!" Tom said.

"It's a tag team racing game! You're bound to have two characters, you know! Don't be picky!" Danny exclaimed. "Still, I want to use Crash!"

"I'm going to use him and that's final!" Harry told him.

"Shut up, you two! It's stupid to fight over something that trivial. Plus, I'm the one who's going to use him!" Dougie shouted.

"First one who reaches the console will get to play him!" Tom screeched, and they ran towards the television with the gaming console to start.

...

The next day, Jake took the boys in for another recording session in which Mr. Phillips asked for the title of the album. They disappointed him half-heartedly by answering him that they were still thinking about it. It was quite hard for them since it was a compilation album, after all. What could they possibly call it? Tom dismissed the idea of calling it "McFly Hits" as Mr. Phillips suggested, because he decided that two albums weren't enough for an album entitled with that.

"Well, make sure you boys can figure out a title for that album so we can hit the charts! You boys are going to do great," Damon told them. They nodded and left with Jake to the Rock 'n' Bowl. They entered with exciting news as Mac told one of the waitresses to turn up the radio. The chorus of Five Colours in Her Hair blasted melodically in the Rock 'n' Bowl and caused the boys to celebrate inwardly.

"No way!"

"That's it! We did it!"

"Ohoh!"

"Yeeeeah!"

Dougie and Danny shook each others' hands as Tom and Harry smothered Jake in a hug.

"Let's celebrate! Burger and fries on me," Mac said. Danny felt ecstasy roll down his spine. Free food and their song on the radio definitely made the day of the McFly boys. The boys and Jake sat down on a nearby table and started discussing.

"Phillips will tell us tonight. In the meantime, we have to focus on the fine tuning that…" Jake stopped when a red-haired beauty caught his eye. Ashley was holding a fluorescent bulb as she climbed the ladder and opened one of the hidden containers of fluorescent lamps. She was going to replace it, probably. Jake watched her as she had a hard time.

"See, that's no good. She should've gone up without the bulb then brought the old one because now, she's going to be juggling…" The old bulb fell from her grasp and shattered into pieces as it made contact with the counter. Danny applauded Jake's prediction as the other boys chattered about it.

"And she should've turned off the light first because now she's gonna be…"

The sound of electricity and a loud female screech captured the attention of all the people in the Rock 'n' Bowl. Jake, meanwhile, took action immediately. "…electrocuted."

He left his seat and preparedly ran behind the ladder as Ashley fell backwards. He was able to catch her in time, and it suddenly made his heart race to make contact with her.

He brought her to one of the old employee rooms of the Rock 'n' Bowl as the boys begged Mac to give them more free food without being obvious. Ashley remained on a lumpy, but manageable couch as Jake gave her a bottle of juice and placed it on the tip of her fingers. He took out a tube of toothpaste from his "SOL backpack" and placed some on a face towel.

"Is that toothpaste?" Ashley asked.

"Uh, yeah! It's an ancient Chinese remedy for burnt fingers," he explained, dabbing some toothpaste on the face towel. Ashley was smiling in gratefulness after a very unfortunate electrocution.

"I've got everything on this backpack," he explained. "Yeah, it pays to be prepared."

He started rubbing small amounts on toothpaste on her burnt fingers. "I've got everything in this backpack. I have first aid, extra socks."

"Isn't that a bit defeatist?" she asked.

"No, I'm a realist. You've been out there," he replied. Indeed, he learned how to be practical and realistic in his approach in life, especially due to his past unlucky streak. "Hey, let me see your cell phone."

After being lectured on how to flip a branded cell phone, he checked the contacts list and was surprised. She had contacts of fancy restaurants which had names he couldn't pronounce, some names of celebrities, high-class workers, but no numbers for hospitals or emergency agencies.

"Are you nuts? Unlucky people need hospitals. Also, never call 911, they take forever. Fire response – they're good," he advised. Ashley nodded.

After giving a joke, they laughed together and silence immediately fell on them. Ashley was busy checking her fingers and hoped for their quick healing, but Jake couldn't help but notice her beauty… and the fact that they were alone made it slightly awkward for him.

"You know what? Um… this backpack just seems to bring you through everything. And I think it's time to pass it on," he said.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, I couldn't," Ashley said.

"No, no, honestly. I think you should have it," he insisted. "Please, you need it more than I do."

His spirit lifted when Ashley finally accepted his old backpack that assisted him in the times his unlucky streaks kick in. He didn't want to see her get hurt again by her unluckiness.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. Jake's phone suddenly rang and he answered it immediately after seeing it was Katy. She called him about problems with her key. Apparently she lost it. Jake offered to fetch her and spend time with her in his penthouse suite later. Ashley left while he was at the middle of the conversation, which unconsciously made him feel downhearted.

* * *

**A/N: **_Yeah, so it's obvious Jake's falling in love with her. XD More chapters coming soon! Please R&R, no flames! And stay tuned! I assure the next chapter's longer and there are more McFly moments. :D_


	12. Too Close for Comfort

**A/N: **_Another update for this story! :D I rewatched the movie for inspiration again! Sorry for taking so long... 20 days is a long count! This chapter is more on Jake's conflict on romance, but still has McFly silliness! I just saw a picture of Dougie holding up a sign saying "Zombies eat brains; Danny is safe!" in one of their recent tour concerts, so some lines in this chapter are inspired by that. :D Thanks again to _**McSteph **_for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter with the McFly silliness! :D Hope you like this one! I also have some news; I'm going to start school this Saturday, and just like last year, it'll occupy my time and make me busy. So that means updates might be rare unless I write every weekend, in which I'm going to do. :D I'm going to finish this story soon! And a probable sequel too (featuring Thomas Sangster in age 15) where the boys have a McFly movie and Jake facing conflicts on how to propose to Ashley. :D_

**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Just My Luck or the McFly boys._

* * *

**Luck, Love and Life**

Chapter 12: Too Close for Comfort

**...**

_Was I invading in on your secrets?  
Was I too close for comfort  
You're pushing me out  
When I wanted in?  
What was I just about to discover?  
When I got too close for comfort  
Driving you home  
Guess I'll never know_

The sight of Harry's dedication as he played the drums made Jake grin even wider. He was impressed by Dougie's excellent skills in playing the bass guitar while being the youngest in the band. The blended tunes from Danny's and Tom's guitar made him realize how hard they worked for their number one hits – they definitely deserved it.

Jake felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Damon Phillips with an impressed expression. He quickly motioned his conducting hand to tell the boys to stop, Tom's singing voice fading from the end of the chorus.

"Hey guys!" said Phillips. The boys greeted him back with curious smiles and hidden excitement. "It sounds good!"

"Thank you," Danny said sincerely, excited on upcoming news. It overwhelmed the Bolton boy in having their best hits selling in the United States, knowing they would have a shot in becoming a world-famous band. It was their dream, and the boys hid their enthusiasm to look serious in front of the hit producer.

"What's going on?" Jake asked. He knew Damon Phillips wouldn't interrupt them unless something huge happened. He announced that the first concert hall they booked for a concert failed.

"That sucks," Tom huffed, placing his hand on the drumming platform.

"But "Five Colours" has been getting great radio play, so I decided to book our boys to the new Hard Rock Café Time Square," he continued. Tom placed his hand in front of his mouth in shock and contentment. Dougie chuckled as he clapped, while Harry removed his headphones to check if he heard things correctly. Danny, on the other hand, couldn't contain his excitement.

"No way! This is legit!"

The boys exclaimed more of their sincere thoughts of happiness as Damon and Jake watched them smile from ear to ear.

"This is big! How's the title and follow=up coming along?"

The boys mentally slapped their foreheads. They still had no idea what to name it.

"W… we're working on it," Jake replied. Tom licked his lips and looked down, knowing the title was the toughest obstacle they had at the moment. It may sound ridiculous, but they knew their compilation album deserved the best name there could be. They knew making a follow-up would be easier, but the stress of the title blocked their song ideas as well.

"Eh…" Danny pouted and nodded his head like a child. Dougie, Harry, and Tom laughed mentally at his expression.

"Alright, that's good! Don' let me stop you guys! Congratulations!" Damon said. Jake and the boys watched him leave with his assistants.

"So… umm… Jake, what's the title of the album? And when are we gonna hear this amazing follow-up?" Danny asked, his accent as thick as ever.

"When you guys write it," he replied, only referring to the follow-up.

Danny looked as clueless as ever. "Right," he said, hints of sarcasm present in his voice. Tom, ashamed of Danny's idiocy, banged the microphone to his forehead countless times.

"Hey, what'chu doin' that for?" Danny asked.

"You're an idiot, Danny," Tom hissed.

"Well, at least when a zombie invasion comes along, Danny's safe!" Dougie exclaimed.

"I don't get it," Harry mumbled.

"Because zombies eat brains," Dougie explained. A minute passed before the idea sank in. Harry jumped up and sat down immediately. "OH! I get it!"

"That's pretty rude," Danny snarled.

"Hey Jake, there's a delivery for you," said a voice from the speaker. The boys turned their heads to see a red-haired woman holding plastic bags filled with who-knows-what, grinning at Jake. Jake, on the other hand, felt his heart squeeze softly in his chest. It made him curious, but he shook it off.

"Over there," Jake said, grinning. He pointed at the side with his pencil as Ashley returned a smile. Danny grinned mischievously as he saw their American manager's goofy expression.

"Hey, isn't that the bird from the bowling alley?" Danny asked.

"Oh yeah, the electrocuted one!" Tom exclaimed. The boys looked at each other with devious grins.

"Oooh, Jakey!"

"Oooooooooooh!"

They caught Jake off guard, grinning wider than usual. Realizing this, Jake tried his best to wipe the grin off his face and rattle the pencil in his hand.

"Eh… uh… Danny! You work on your vocals for "Too Close for Comfort" because I think we're on the right track, just spice it up a little bit," he said quickly, leaving the recording room afterwards.

"Okay. We're gonna take it from the second verse," Tom said, standing up. The boys wore their respective headphones and fixed their instruments up, ready for more practice and recording sessions.

Jake quickly arrived next to Ashley, who was fixing up the food she was asked to deliver for them.

"Hey!"

Ashley quickly turned around and her elbow bumped the lamppost standing close to her. With his newfound reflexes, Jake dived in to avoid it making contact to the ground, smashing the glass into a million pieces by that.

"Hey… OH!"

He balanced the lamppost as she fixed up the plastic bag, apologizing of her clumsiness.

"I'm sorry," she said. Her hand landed on the table, and made it wobble. Jake was thankful that he became luckier as he caught the table and fixed it up. Ashley buried her face in her hands with embarrassment while Dougie's bass boomed through the room. She constantly apologized, and told her to come with him to check out the boys.

"Sounds great, you know," he said. Ashley turned up by his side soon. He was at a loss for words, trying to think of something to say to her. It was his second time feeling awkward around a woman, the first being the one in the masquerade bash.

_Remember when we scratched our names into the sand  
And told me you loved me  
But now that I find  
That you've changed your mind  
I'm lost for words_

"They sound good!" she complimented, giving him another heartwarming smile. He was relieved that she talked to him first.

"Yeah! Yeah! They do, don't you think?"

She gave him an appreciative nod. He needed to say more things to her.

_And everything I feel for you  
I wrote down on one piece of paper  
The one in your hand  
You won't understand  
How much it hurts to let you go_

"So… did you hear that we're working in the new Hard Rock?" he asked.

"Wow! That's great!" she said.

_Was I invading in on your secrets?  
Was I too close for comfort  
You're pushing me out  
When I wanted in?  
What was I just about to discover?  
I got too close for comfort  
Driving you home  
Guess I'll never know_

He constantly glanced at her, often catching her looking back at him. Jake's palms turned sweaty as Ashley faced him full-on. He didn't even mind that the boys were playing passionately behind the glass window of the studio.

"So… do you think… maybe… uhh… you wanna go to coffee later or something… maybe…?" he asked, stammering. Jake surprised himself… he actually asked her on a date! "Please say yes," he thought repeatedly.

"Uh…" she cleared her throat; Jake watched the boys instead to look less heartbroken if she said no. "That would be nice."

Jake grinned at her as she watched the boys until he heard the door open, Katy entering with an indigo jacket on.

_All this time you've been telling me lies  
Hidden in bags that are under your eyes  
And when I asked you I knew I was right_

"Ahh, there she is," he said. He watched Katy open one of the plastic bags with food. "Oh, is that Katy?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. She's cute, huh? She picked out this jacket!" he said, giving a good impression for his little cousin. Ashley muttered something that he didn't quite catch, but she told him that Katy looked like someone she went with in camp. He felt impressed that she had a good memory if she could remember someone from so long.

"You know, I'd better get going…" she said, her voice trailing off. "Uh… Mac wants me to reset the rat trap." She quickly shuffled away from Jake.

_But if you turn your back on me now  
When I need you most  
But you chose to let me down_

"Oh, shall I call you tonight?" Jake asked hopefully, excited on his probable first date.

"Umm, yeah, about that…" Ashley was cut off when she realized her bag hit someone from behind. "Some other time, maybe. I have other plans… sorry about that… bye!"

_Won't you think about what you're about to do to me  
And back down..._

He plastered a fake smile until she left the room. "Uhh… bye." He sighed in frustration and caught himself doing it. He was surprised by his actions. Wasn't he supposed to search for the girl he kissed at the party? But why did he feel mixed up about Ashley? Why did he feel… odd about her turning down the date? He never did feel that way about a girl before because of his bad luck. Maybe, in some possible way, a small hint of bad luck remained on his side.

He turned to Katy, who had a soda can fizz fly on her face. She screeched in horror. He knew his bad luck wasn't that bad, but his heartstrings tugged him on the inside, causing him to lean on the closest surface. He didn't understand why, but his heart sank.

_Was I invading in on your secrets?  
Was I too close for comfort  
You're pushing me out  
When I wanted in  
What was I just about to discover?  
I got too close for comfort  
You're pushing me out  
When I'm wanting in  
What was I just about to discover  
When I got too close for comfort  
Driving you home  
I guess I'll never know..._

"Well done!"

The boys were relieved they finished another song on that day and removed their headphones in pride, laughing together and waiting for each other to get out of their instruments' grasps to leave the room. But when they caught sight of Jake with a conflicted look on his face, they paused.

"What's got him looking like that?" Danny asked in a whisper.

"No idea… hey, where's Ashley?" Tom asked.

"I dunno…" Dougie replied.

"…maybe Jake's having a hard time on her... did you guys see the way he looks at her?" Harry remarked.

"Yeah…" Dougie whispered.

"I think Jake's in love," Danny said.

"And he might be heartbroken…" Tom's voice trailed off. "Let's go."

"Or maybe the song just affected him!" Danny exclaimed. The next thing he knew was that his bandmates were hitting him on the head.

"I can't wait to see a zombie try invading Danny's house," Dougie snickered.

* * *

**A/N: **_There we go! The next chapter will have more Jake/Ashley-centric moments, but McFly's going to shine more too! Please review, no flames! And stay tuned! :D _


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